Friday Night Lights (2004) on Netflix
PG-1320041h 58mActionDramaSport
Odessa, Texas, obsesses over its Permian Panthers. Coach Gary Gaines, quarterback Mike Winchell and star tailback Boobie Miles chase a state title until Miles is hurt in the season opener.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.2/1071,452 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes82%
Trailer
Plot summary
The Permian Panthers begin preseason practice in Odessa, Texas, in 1988, and the town expects nothing less than a state championship. Coach Gary Gaines carries that expectation, and so does his blue chip running back, James "Boobie" Miles, who draws scouts from major universities. Quarterback Mike Winchell mostly hands the ball off to Miles. Fullback Don Billingsley is abused at home by his father Charles, a former Permian champion who wants more from him, and the defense is led by Brian Chavez and Ivory Christian. Between practices the players party to cope with the pressure, and the season opener against the Marshall Bulldogs is played before scouts from those universities.
Cast
- Lee Jacksonas Ivory Christian
- Kasey Stevensas Flippy
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Friday Night Lights (2004)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Dallas Carter's 1988 state title was revoked after the team used an academically ineligible player and fought a prolonged legal battle to stay in the playoffs, neither is shown in the film; Converse Judson, beaten 31-14 in the final by Carter, was declared champion.
- The real James "Boobie" Miles cameos as a Permian assistant coach, and in the locker room at halftime of the state championship game he stands next to his fictional counterpart as Coach Gaines gives his motivational speech.
- The real Marshall game, Permian's second of the season, was played on a Saturday afternoon at Maverick Stadium, and Permian chartered a jet for the 500-plus-mile trip from Odessa, which sparked controversy over the cost.
- The small, football-obsessed Texas town seen in the trailer was actually downtown Manhattan, Kansas, which the film's arts department meticulously decorated to look like a Texas town.
- Hays High School is in the film because the makers shot crowd shots there during a real Rebels home game against the Austin Westlake Chaparrals, another team the film depicts as a Permian playoff victim.
- The film shows Odessa as a mostly Anglo town with a sizable African-American population and virtually no Hispanics, but in 1988 one-third of its almost 100,000 residents were Hispanic and only 5% were African-American.
