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Thornton (Sling Blade, Bad Santa, The Alamo) turns in a stellar performance as Gaines, who coached Permian 1986-89 before moving on to the college ranks; he's now head coach at Abilene Christian University, where the school's mission statement is to "educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world." If Gaines is a believer, that isn't made clear in Friday Night Lights. He leads his team in The Lord's Prayer and occasionally shows a sensitive side, but he's also portrayed as an incredibly demanding coach who doesn't hesitate to chew out—and even humiliate—his players. (It's worth noting that Gaines rarely uses bad language in his tirades—unlike many "vocabularly-challenged" high school coaches I've known through the years.)

The film takes you right onto the sidelines of a high school football game

It's not easy to peg Gaines's character, at least as portrayed in this film. We've all seen the trailers where he tells his team before the season begins, "Make no mistake about it, gentlemen: We are in the business of winning. This is real, sincere warfare. And you will be perfect." Perfect? How's a 17-year-old boy supposed to deal with that kind of demand?

But then, one could say that Jesus is being too demanding by telling us to "be perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Was Gaines, then, being a hard-nosed jerk—or was he being Christ-like? Christ waited until later to tell his followers what he meant by perfection: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me" (Matthew 19:21). Similarly, Gaines waits till later to tell his followers—his players—how he defines perfection. In a stirring halftime speech near the end of the film—and near the end of the season—Gaines says, "Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn't let them down. I want you to put each other in your hearts forever, because forever is about to happen. Can you live in that moment as best you can, with clear eyes, with love and joy in your heart? If you can, you're perfect."

I can live with that definition of perfect, but I wanted to say, "Gee, thanks, Coach. Why didn't you tell us this at the beginning of the season? It would've taken a lot of the pressure off, you know?"

Tim McGraw plays an abusive father to his son, played by Garrett Hedlund

And yet Coach Gaines is an angel compared to one player's father. Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund) is a third-string senior tailback who just can't hang on to the football; he's always fumbling it away. His obsessed father, Charlie Billingsley—played brilliantly by country music star Tim McGraw in his feature film debut—is a former Permian player with a state championship ring … which is about the closest thing you can get to wearing a royal crown in Odessa. The elder Billingsley, who battles a drinking problem and the personal demons of unreasonable expectations, constantly berates his son about his inability to hold on to the ball. At home, the situation turns outright abusive, and it's extremely uncomfortable to watch. It's a subplot throughout the film—and that subplot alone makes this movie unsuitable for younger viewers.

Another subplot clearly illustrates the madness surrounding Permian football. When star tailback "Boobie" Miles (Derek Luke) suffers a knee injury early in the season, Coach Gaines is under a lot of pressure to get him back on the field ASAP—especially after the Panthers lose the next game without Miles. An Odessa doctor, suspecting a torn anterior cruciate ligament, urges Boobie to go to Midland for an MRI. Boobie and his football-obsessed uncle wait for weeks before heeding the advice, only to hear that indeed, the ACL is torn and that Boobie should not play again. Boobie goes berserk in the doctor's office, accusing him of being paid off because he's from Midland—home to Permian's big rival. So he refuses to believe the news—or, more like it, to face reality—and goes back and tells Coach Gaines his knee is fine. Gaines puts him in the game, and you can guess what happens to Boobie. The problem here is that Gaines took Boobie's word for it, and didn't follow up with the Midland doctor himself—something a head coach should certainly do. So why didn't he? Likely because he is also under a ton of pressure to win, no matter the cost—so he didn't want to face reality, either.

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