Friday Night Lights | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

82% Tomatometer 174 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings

A small, turbulent town in Texas obsesses over their high school football team to an unhealthy degree. When the star tailback, Boobie Miles (Derek Luke), is seriously injured during the first game of the season, all hope is lost, and the town's dormant social problems begin to flare up. It is left to the inspiring abilities of new coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) to instill in the other team members -- and, by proxy, the town itself -- a sense of self-respect and honor.

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Critics Consensus

An acute survey of the football-obsessed heartland that succeeds as both a stirring drama and a rousing sports movie.

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Critics Reviews

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Friday Night Lights | Rotten Tomatoes (1) Boston Globe Rated: 3/4 Nov 24, 2011 Full Review Friday Night Lights | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Nell Minow Common Sense Media So much more than a football movie. Rated: 4/5 Dec 24, 2010 Full Review Friday Night Lights | Rotten Tomatoes (3) David Ansen Newsweek Few films have shown so powerfully the slashing double edge of sports fever. Nov 1, 2007 Full Review Friday Night Lights | Rotten Tomatoes (4) James Croot Stuff.co.nz Friday Night Lights still remains one of the most entertaining and engrossing sports movies of the past two decades. Dec 8, 2023 Full Review Friday Night Lights | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Leigh Paatsch Herald Sun (Australia) The game sequences do stand out, but this refreshingly no-frills affair also finds time to question the value of the win-at-all-costs ethos rife in modern sport. Rated: 4/5 Jul 24, 2020 Full Review Friday Night Lights | Rotten Tomatoes (6) Eddie Harrison The List With Billy Bob Thornton's garrulous Coach Gary Gaines masterminding every play, you'll get caught up in the action even if you can't tell your 'first-and-down' from your 'time-out.' Rated: 3/5 Apr 24, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Lorri D Late to the game watching this in 2024 but thought it was one of the best series I’ve ever watched. The way the show dealt with teenagers growing up in a small town hit home. Friday night was always football night. Coach hit it out of the park with his skills both in football and in life’s lessons. The entire cast is commended for their acting skills. A must watch series if you have not seen it yet. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/24/24 Full Review Joel H When I saw that Friday Night Lights was based on a true story, I expected something monumental to happen during the course of the film. But the story that unfolded was fairly standard. No major plot twists or unusual obstacles occurred, so I kept wondering why this story needed to be told. I was also a little distracted by the cinematography, which was trying to emulate a documentary, and so the camera was constantly panning, tilting, and zooming. And, aside from two or three characters, everyone else felt like a one-dimensional extra. I liked Friday Night Lights, but I guess I just expected more. Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/24/24 Full Review Blu B A Classic Sports Drama that on the surface doesn't look like anything special and just your run of the mill underdog story weve seen time and time again. What this does is it doesn't focus on throwaway characters and is done in a documentary drama style that showcases a way of life as much as it does a football story that sets it apart. None of the characters are throwaways and showcases the obession, perils, and promises of playing high school ball in the heartland. The music is amazing and super memorable. The editing is good but this is the one part that can be a bit shaky at times. Sometimes it picks up especially in the first half and cuts a bit too fast out of nowhere like it's a Bourne movie for no reason and there really isn't a central character that grounds this which means it is quite jumpy as we go through the key events of the season and how it affects everyone. Which means it can feel like it jumps and stuff just happens a bit but it all does come together in the end. It's crazy how this more about the kids rather than BBT. Besides that everything else is really good. The football scenes are amazing, the drama is really good and heartfelt, and you really do feel like your right with the team all the way. The shaky cam and cinematography style can be a bit dated and obnoxious sometimes but it does work a lot of times especially in the intense drama situations. Anyone who is a fan of the director, any actors in this, or sports dramas will like this a lot. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/09/24 Full Review Alex S This is my favorite movie! Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/07/24 Full Review Frank P Good football flick - saw it on a small screen on the seatback in front of me on a Delta flight. Those tackles sounded especially brutal with headphones on. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 11/01/23 Full Review James B billy bob thorton and the rest of the cast was great in this film. great soundtrack and i liked the ending. one of the better football movies out there. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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Cast & Crew

Peter Berg Director Billy Bob Thornton Coach Gary Gaines Derek Luke Boobie Miles Jay Hernandez Brian Chavez Lucas Black Mike Winchell Garrett Hedlund Don Billingsley
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Movie Clips

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Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Coach Gaines on Being Perfect Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Coach Gaines on Being Perfect 2:58 Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Boobie Goes Down Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Boobie Goes Down 2:41 Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - You're Gonna Seriously Fly, Son Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - You're Gonna Seriously Fly, Son 2:26 Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Boobie Cleans Out His Locker Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Boobie Cleans Out His Locker 3:00 Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Ivory's Pep Talk Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Ivory's Pep Talk 0:56 Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Boobie's MRI Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Boobie's MRI 2:48 Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Creepy Boosters Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Creepy Boosters 1:38 Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Duct Tape for Don Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Duct Tape for Don 1:58 Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Agony of Defeat Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Agony of Defeat 2:58 Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Get Off the Field, Dad Friday Night Lights: Official Clip - Get Off the Field, Dad 1:33 View more videos

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Friday Night Lights

On the set of "Friday Night Lights." (L-R) Jay Hernandez as Brian Chavez, Derek Luke as Boobie Miles, Garrett Hedlund as Don Billingsley and Lucas Black as Mike Winchell in "Friday Night Lights." On the set of "Friday Night Lights." (L-R) Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gary Gaines and Lucas Black as Mike Winchell in "Friday Night Lights." A scene from the film "Friday Night Lights." L-R) Garrett Hedlund as Don Billingsley, Jay Hernandez as Brian Chavez and Lucas Black as Mike Winchell in "Friday Night Lights." A scene from the film "Friday Night Lights." L-R) Jay Hernandez as Brian Chavez, Lucas Black as Mike Winchell and Garrett Hedlund as Don Billingsley in "Friday Night Lights." A scene from the film "Friday Night Lights." (L-R) Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gary Gaines and Garrett Hedlund as Don Billingsley in "Friday Night Lights." View more photos

Synopsis A small, turbulent town in Texas obsesses over their high school football team to an unhealthy degree. When the star tailback, Boobie Miles (Derek Luke), is seriously injured during the first game of the season, all hope is lost, and the town's dormant social problems begin to flare up. It is left to the inspiring abilities of new coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) to instill in the other team members -- and, by proxy, the town itself -- a sense of self-respect and honor.

Director
Peter Berg

Producer
Brian Grazer

Screenwriter
Peter Berg, David Aaron Cohen, Buzz Bissinger

Distributor
Universal Pictures

Production Co
Imagine Entertainment

Rating
PG-13 (Rough Sports Action|Language|Sexual Content|Some Teen Drinking|Thematic Issues)

Genre
Drama

Original Language
English

Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 8, 2004, Wide

Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 12, 2014

Box Office (Gross USA)
$61.2M

Runtime
1h 57m

Sound Mix
SDDS, Dolby SRD, DTS, Surround
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