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Billy Bob Thornton, he of the weird phobias and weirder relationships, delivers an understated performance as the coach of a high-school football team in the kind of rural Texas town where the coach has a bigger salary than the school principal and talk shows devote entire hours to the state of the season. Everyone loves the team when it’s winning; when it loses, everyone complains that the school is too concerned with "book learning." The town’s happiness rests on the team’s shoulders, and sure enough, it gets to the state championship for the climactic showdown against a bigger, badder outfit. Thornton anchors a large cast of young actors including Derek Luke as the star running back and Lucas Black as the quarterback. Friday Night Lights is based on a true story, and director Peter Berg (Very Bad Things) uses handheld cameras and jerky jump cuts to give the film a documentary feel. You don’t learn as much about the boys as you might like, but the football sequences have an immediacy that works. I always thought book learning was overrated. (105 minutes)
BY BROOKE HOLGERSON
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