Films Directed by Peter Berg (Study Guide): Hancock, The Kingdom, Friday Night Lights, Very Bad Things, The Rundown

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Hancock, the Kingdom, Friday Night Lights, Very Bad Things, the Rundown. Excerpt: Friday Night Lights Friday Night Lights is the 2004 drama film that documents the coach and players of a high school football team and the Texas city of Odessa that supports and is obsessed with them. The book on which it was based, Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream , was authored by H. G. Bissinger and follows the story of the 1988 Permian High School Panthers football team as they made a run towards the state championship. A television series of the same name premiered on October 3, 2006 on NBC . This movie ranked number 37 on Entertainment Weekly ' s list of the Best High School Movies. Plot Bissinger followed the team for the entire 1988 season, which culminated in a loss in the State semi-finals against Carter High School from Dallas , who eventually went on to win the championship game but would have their title stripped for playing an ineligible player. However, the book also deals with or alludes to a number of secondary political and social issues existing in Odessa, all of which share ties to the Permian Panthers football team. These include socioeconomic disparity; racism ; segregation (and desegregation ); and poverty . The coach, Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton ), is constantly on the hot seat. Tied into the successes and failure of the coach and the team in general are the conflicts the players struggle with on and off the gridiron. The coach overuses his star player, running back James "Boobie" Miles (Derek Luke ), who gets seriously injured (Miles tore his ACL , missed the playoffs, and had a limp for the rest of his life). When this happens, sports radios are flooded with calls for his resignation. Miles' once-arrogant attitude vanishes as he sees his once promising...