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"This is one of the best—if not the best—sports movies I've ever seen," says Mark Moring (Christianity Today Movies). "It's extremely well done on all fronts—emotive acting, convincing (though sometimes overdone) plays on the field, terrific cinematography, snappy editing, and sensitive direction. You'll get caught up in the excitement. But don't misread me: While there are certainly moments where you'll find yourself cheering for the home team, this is not really a 'feel-good' sports movie. It's intense, it's in your face, and parts of it are gut-wrenchingly difficult to watch."

Annabelle Robertson (Crosswalk) writes, "The best thing about Friday Night Lights is neither the story, the direction, nor the acting, as great as all these are. It's the film's message, which portrays in no uncertain terms both the seduction and the fleeting nature of football fame."

Marvin Olasky (World) examines the various elements that earned the film a PG-13 rating, and concludes, "The negatives may be positives, depending on parents' evaluation of their children's maturity. And the biggest positive may be terrific acting by many, including Billy Bob Thornton … and Derek Luke."

Kevin Miller (Hollywood Jesus) says it's "more than just a great sports movie; it is a great movie—period. Friday Night Lights compels you to examine your life, to make sure you haven't lost track of why you are living it, and to refocus on doing your best, on striving toward achieving something extraordinary."

Bob Smithouser (Plugged In) is more hesitant to dig into the bag of superlatives. "If the film shocks those people into reordering their priorities and cutting their local athletic program some slack, it will serve a purpose. However, some young people will internalize the message that they should turn their senior year into an excuse to party and sleep around because, after all 'it's all downhill from there.' For those viewers, the movie will do far more harm than good."

David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) says it's "not just a 'sports movie'—though virtually every frame of the film involves football—but an engrossing, at times unsettling, portrait of the lives and fragile dreams of young athletes and their families in economically depressed communities across America. [It] differs from most feel-good sports movies in that it exposes the unpleasant side of high-stakes amateur athletics: an unhealthy pressure cooker where teens are asked to shoulder the expectations of entire communities and where coaches are paid more than teachers."

Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) says it's "surprisingly effective in capturing the small town fascination and nearly obsessive-behavior associated with high school sports. It is more realistic than Remember the Titans or Varsity Blues. It is probably most reminiscent of Hoosiers."

"The primary lesson is that there is nobility and reward in passionate engagement in life, that pursuing a goal that is beyond your reach brings with it the strength and character that can feed and sustain you emotionally, physically, and perhaps, for a time—spiritually," writes Kenneth Morefield (Christian Spotlight). "The curse is that these rewards are inextricably linked to a game that is arbitrary and undependable: happiness is never assured, and, once attained, it can be taken from you at any moment. Friday Night Lights works best in its moments where it is most honest about the curse as well as the hope."

Mainstream critics throw a few penalty flags, but overall they judge it a winner.

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