Undescribable Perfection

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

OK so I hate sports, I mean I really do, hate watching football, always have and always will. So I really didn't originally think that I would enjoy this movie, but to my surprise I really enjoyed it. I don't usually ever like sports movies since I hate sports, but this movie is much more layered than you may think. It's loaded with drama, romance, friendship, important messages, and admirable characters. It's not a hyper masculine movie about men playing football. It has detailed characters dealing with their lives and all that entails. The cast is great. James Van Der Beek gives a fantastic performance and proves himself to be more than just the star of a teenage drama (Dawson's Creek). Scott Caan is good here too, and no I'm not just talking about his ass lol, now that's fine as hell, but that's not all he is in this film, he provides a nice comic relief and plays a very fun outgoing character. Paul Walker (RIP) is great here, I loved his character and he proved himself as an actor early here. Rock on Paul, we miss you xoxo. Jon voight is great as the villainous football coach, he plays it very well, if you don't hate him as a character then there's something wrong with you lol. Ali Larter and Amy Smart are both good too. I loved Beek and Smart's romantic chemistry. The script is well put together, I love the deep interesting dialogue between the characters. The script made me connect more with each of the characters. I was sincerely hoping this film wouldn't be a bland testosterone filled sports movie that is just dumb, and my hopes were meet satisfaction. This is the best sports movie ever in my opinion. 9/10.

"They put them wieners on the glass at the Alano Club? No good." Nope, that's no good, but this movie is pretty darn good! I don't think it mixes the drama and slap-shticky comedy well, but I did end the movie with a smile on my face, so that works for me. I'm not a big fan of the Beek, but I am a huge fan of the whipped cream! And Billy Bob's recipe for breakfast - waffles dipped in peanut butter with a maple syrup chaser! Go Coyotes!

I will start by confessing that I have a weakness for football flicks. As a seasoned reviewer, I have over the years come to really admire the fact that American "football" films are not part of a single brand franchise tied to a particular studio but, rather, that any independent film-maker with a good script and financing can throw his hat in the ring. And produce something that may or may not pass the test of time.Varsity Blues will hold up. And mainly because of Voight. (Of the rest of the cast only Amy Smart manages to steal scenes.) Voight is one of the American film industry's most neglected resources, I think. I remember a long time ago, after his breakout role in Midnight Cowboy, I was able to catch Voight doing a stage play in upstate New York. What I remember about that was the impression of how serious this guy was about mastering his craft. If there was no movie deal on the table, he would go find a stage on which to perfect his craft.And what a craft. This reviewer believes that Voight could be the finest living character actor in Hollywood. And also the most forgettable since -- most people forget this -- the job of the character actor is never steal thunder from the stars.This film was done in 1999. This review was written in 2016 where, week after week, an older Voight continues to steal scenes from the leads in the hi-quality Ray Donovan TV show.I am a fan of Ray Donovan, mainly because of Voight.And I think this film is better than the reviews indicate.Mainly because of Voight.

I'm really glad that "Friday Night Lights" was released in 2004. It didn't make quite as big a splash as "Varsity Blues", but it was a much better movie in terms of quality, and it had far more realistic characters and settings. Being a former high school football player, I get very picky when it comes to high school sports movies, especially about football. "Varsity Blues" had some good qualities, but was an overall miss for me.The biggest problem with "Varsity Blues" was that to me it was less of a sports movie and more of a frat house comedy knock-off with cheesy dramatic elements thrown in for desperate attempts at artistic credibility. As much as I like Jon Voight, I really didn't buy him as the coach. He was just too over-the-top; too unnecessarily evil to the point where he was a cliché. Sure he's concerned with winning. I mean, what good coach isn't? But did he have to be a steroid-injecting racist too? I also didn't buy the fact that he seemed to be the only coach on the team. For a team that big, you would think there would be some assistant coaches.James Van Der Beek is an actor I also usually like. He does play a likable guy in this movie, and often times plays his naivety very well. However, he completely lost it for me during that stupid attempt at an Oscar nomination ("I don't want your life!"). Plus, the part in the movie where he takes his teammates out to a strip club the night before a big game was never explained. He was supposed to play a smart kid! Smart kids don't do that! In relation to that, there were so many things wrong with that strip club segment of the movie. For one, they lost the game that came next (despite the opposing team appearing to be super human and making some hits that pale in comparison to most NFL teams), yet still made it to the State Championships in the end? That doesn't happen. Also, no one seemed to have a problem with the beginning part where the football player who got drunk, naked, and stole a police car with four other nude women in it. Yeah, it's funny, but if that happened in reality, the football player would have been convicted on five felony accounts. That would have been AFTER he was kicked off the team too.If the producers wanted to make a good high school football movie, they could have. Instead, they made a cheap flick which appealed to the MTV Generation with football players who were too perfect, and scenarios that would be almost guaranteed to never happen in real life. "Friday Night Lights" was to me a much better high school football movie, and not necessarily about beautiful people with problems. "Varsity Blues" is just a fluke.