I Dont Want to Live Your Life Varsity Blues
Surprisingly good!
If someone checks out the trailer, one might think, "Another MTV-produced teen flick. I think I'll pass on that." Well, I went into the theater not thinking it was going to be bad, but I expected more of an amusing film that isn't really high on ingenuity. True, "Varsity Blues" has those standard teen elements like wild drinking parties, the school slut, etc. But it never overuses those elements. It's more of a compelling comedy-drama about football that delivers a fine message about sportsmanship. You have a pretty good idea how it's going to end up, but it's the way it's executed that makes it special. Jon Voight is absolutely terrific as the no-nonsense coach. He's the kind of character you want to stab in the chest every minute he's on screen, and Voight was a perfect choice. The film dabbles with elements of the sport that probably hit home to some high school football players. Voight's character has only one goal: winning. And he doesn't care how he gets to that goal. If he has to shoot drugs into every one of his players, he's going to arrive at that goal. And I'm sure there are coaches out there who have that selfish goal. Then James Van Der Beek comes along, and his character is not really concerned with winning or playing football in the first place. But he likes football, has fun with it and simply wants to play a good, honest game. If the team wins, good. If it doesn't, so what. He has a good locker room speech at the end of the movie.
"Varsity Blues" is funny, moving and wonderfully acted. It might appeal more to teens and young adults, more than the older ones, but I still suggest everyone check it out.
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A pleasant surprise
Since this is a teen-oriented film, I must confess that I wasn't expecting this to be very entertaining. However, thanks to a generally intelligent script and a great job by Jon Voight, this turned out to be surprisingly good. As you would probably expect in a teen movie, there are some scenes that seem juvenile and pointless, but thankfully, this film manages to limit these needless diversions. The central story, although a familiar one, is well written and rather interesting. Definitely worth checking out.
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Excellent high school melodrama
Good kids vs evil football coach. The only thing that can make such a movie watchable is memorable characters created by good actors, and here is where Varsity Blues succeeds. I love it when I go into a movie expecting to hate it and then end up enjoying it. Give this one a try.
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Fairly entertaining, despite all the cliches
Like a number of other reviewers, I though "Varsity Blues" wouldn't amount to much more than "Dawson Plays Football", MTV-style. Well, it's not -- it's actually quite good. It deals fairly realistically with the trials and tribulations of Dawson . . . sorry, Mox (James Van Der Beek), the backup quarterback more interested in "Catcher in the Rye" than in his own playbook, who is forced to become the starter for his team. The movie's filled with cliches: the town obsessed with the football team; the overweight, goofy lineman; the slutty cheerleader with the heart of gold; the arrogant coach; the teacher straight out of an early 80's Van Halen video; etc, etc. Surprisingly, there's enough twisted and wrinkles thrown into these cliches to make the story seem pretty fresh, if not entirely original. You know how the story's going to end, but you're not always sure how it's going to get there, and that's what keeps it interesting.
Van Der Beek is very good, much better that I ever thought I'd give him credit for. Also good: Paul Walker as the original starting quarterback, and Amy Smart as Van Der Beek's smart girlfriend. They played real characters as opposed to stereotypes, and I thought their performances really made the movie. Surprisingly, I thought the weakest link was Jon Voight as the head coach. He was a cardboard villain, no substance to him whatsoever. I kept waiting for the film to explain why he wanted to win so bad, why he'd push his kids with such inhuman cruelty . . . and besides "because he wants to win", an answer was never given. Too bad, although I think this was more the fault of the script than of Mr. Voight.
It's certainly not the best movie ever made -- for that matter, it's not even the best football movie ever made -- but it's still good. It has heart, and most of the performances make this film a cut above most of the "Teen Films" that are out there. A fun rental.
B-
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Best teen movie of the year!!
From the previews, you would think that this movie is all fluff. But, there is actually a story involved here. Kids trying to be all that they can be despite a winning-obsessed coach (well played by Jon Voight) and pressures by parents and the town. Van Der Beek plays "Mox" very well, and there is a great soundtrack. It is better than most of the teen movies this year and deserves a watch.
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More Than Just Football
A back-up quarterback (James VanDerBeek) is chosen to lead a Texas football team to victory after the star quarterback (Paul Walker) is injured.
I was never a football player. I was not fro ma town that cared about high school football. And I did not particularly care about the football team. Heck, I do not even happen to remember a single person who played on our school's team. So I do not exactly identify with anyone in this movie.
And yet, it happens to be pretty good. VanDerBeek does not stray too far from Dawson, which is how we like him best. Paul Walker is here, which is great, since his legacy is pretty much only "Fast and Furious". And Jon Voight is sort of a jerk, which is exactly how I imagine he is in real life.
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Surprisingly good
Voight helps guide this ship and the young cast are surprisingly up to the challenge of being in his presence. The film is a little mixed early on as it flirts with teenage humour, but it course corrects later. The film is better when it deals with the competitive nature of sport in small towns. The final third of this movie is the best part and saves an odd film narrative from being completely overshadowed by teenage cheap humour.
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Varsity Blues tells the story of a high school in a small town in Texas, where football is king.
I'm sure we've all known of, or at least heard of places, where nothing is bigger than high school football. The starting quarterback runs the town, the coach is considered a God (as long as he's winning), and the parents all live vicariously through their children. And most of the time, the kids actually playing football love the game too. But in the small town of West Caanan, the kids are running rampant, and the coach (Jon Voight) doesn't care.
James Van Der Beek stars as Jonathon Moxon (Mox), the backup quarterback of the high school football team. And he's happy with his situation. He gets to sit on the sidelines and read, hang out with the cool kids, and basically just wait until he can get out of this one horse town and head off to Brown University. But one day he sees the coach injecting pain killers into the knee of the starting quarterback. Then one of his best friends, Billy Bob, seems to have a concussion, but the coach makes him play. When the starting QB goes down, Mox is handed the team and is forced to decide whether to be the King of West Caanan, or to live his life the way he wants it to be lived.
I guess it wasn't a bad movie. The football scenes were done extremely well, and I generally liked the people I was supposed to like, and didn't like the people I wasn't supposed to like. But the movie lacked a certain focus. There were too many other things going on that didn't seem to have anything to do with the movie. The whole stripper/teacher thing didn't do anything but make me think back to my high school years and realize I didn't want to see any of those teachers naked. Then there was the black running back who claimed that the coach was a racist. He said that whenever they got near the goal line, the coach would always give the ball to a white guy so he could soak up the glory. While that may have been true, there was nothing in the movie to show that the coach was a racist. The only thing in the movie that said he was a racist was the black player saying he was. The whole race issue seemed to be thrown in there just for the sake of having it, rather than serving any purpose.
Some of the characters were too stereotypical. Mox's girlfriend for instance. As soon as Mox became the starting QB, his life started to change. In the town of West Caanan, starting QB was a position of popularity. But instead of letting Mox enjoy himself, even for a second, she started telling him he had changed. I figured that was going to happen, but don't you think a girlfriend would allow her boyfriend to enjoy his moment in the spotlight for just a few minutes before telling him he's not the man she fell in love with? Jon Voight's character was another one. I never played high school football, so maybe that's the way a coach is, but actually willing to ruin a kids life by making him play with a serious injury? And actually choking another player? I thought that his character went a little too far. It made him look extremely bad when that point had already been made.
My last rant has to do with the character of Darcy. She was the cheerleader who was dating the starting QB. As soon as he got injured, she started hitting on Mox. When she finally got him to come over to her house, he resisted her. Then she broke down and cried, and Mox solved all her problems in a few seconds. Much too quick a resolution for her. But I must say, I'll never look at whipped cream the same way again.
Overall I did enjoy Varsity Blues. It was fun to watch, even though it had a lot of script problems. The actors seemed to be having fun with their roles, and that made the movie better. So even though it had a lot of problems, overall it was enjoyable. And now, I'm off to find some whipped cream.
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Very entertaining sports movie
Released in 1999, "Varsity Blues" is a sports film about football in Central Texas, where high school football is virtually a religion. I was surprised at how engrossing and entertaining "Varsity Blues" is, much more so than similar films, like "Remember the Titans" (2000), "Woodlawn" (2015) and scores of others.
The story revolves around a second-string quarterback, Mox (James Van Der Beek), who doesn't take football too seriously because he's consigned to the bench, but when the team's star-quarterback is seriously injured (Paul Walker), Mox rises to the challenge and begins to experience all the perks that come with being the football hero of the town.
I'm not a huge fan of sports film, unless they successfully tap into other genres. "Varsity Blues" does this and is part high school dramedy. The movie features everything you'd want in a film of this ilk -- the sexpot cheerleader (Ali Larter), wild schoolmates (Scott Caan, Ron Lester), the smart girl (Amy Smart, no pun intended), wild parties, miscellaneous coming-of-age antics, megalomaniac coach (Jon Voight) and everything that goes with intense sports competition.
Some people complain that the film's unrealistic because of all the extreme things that occur, but the team in "Varsity Blues" represents the typical champion high school football team and therefore they experience the various crazy things these types of teams encounter in real life. It was the same thing with "Platoon." Veterans of Vietnam say no one platoon would undergo all that this platoon experienced, but the group is a microcosm of all platoons throughout the Vietnam war. Also, movies like "Varsity Blues" and "Platoon" may come across as "too much" because filmmakers only have about 2 hours to tell the story and they have to jam a whole year of experiences into that time frame.
Others complain about the lack of assistant coaches in the second half of the final game, but we'll have to assume that they went with a certain person and the film just doesn't show it.
I rate "Varsity Blues" as high as I do because it's a stand-out sports film and high school dramedy that heavily influenced the more reality-based (but IMO less compelling) "Friday Night Lights," which came out five years later. No genre is beyond redemption or above contempt.
The film runs 106 minutes and was shot in the Austin, TX, area (Georgetown, Elgin and Taylor). DIRECTOR: Brian Robbins. WRITER: W. Peter Iliff.
GRADE: A-
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Excellent film, and that whip cream bikini!
Warning: Spoilers
May contain spoilers:
Even though my experience differs in the type of sport, I can completely relate and appreciate what the core of this film is about. And that is the compulsive, hereditary, obsessive behavior that peers and parents have towards their kids playing sports. I have lived in Canada all my life in what would be considered somewhere in between a city like New York and a town like West Canaan. Take a look at Springfield Illinois (pop. about 300,000) and that is about the size of the cities that I have grown up in. And when I have been to and played hockey at local small rinks, parents become stupid. They yell at the refs, there is sometimes the threat of violence and really it is sheer luncacy that prevails at events like this one. Is it that they try to live vicariously through their kids? That they want to see their kids do something that they never could? Besides Kilmer being an idiot and a control freak in the film, I thought Varsity Blues' central issue was to show how obsessed we all are when it comes to sports and our kids achieving greatness, at any level.
Varsity Blues is a great film. And what I enjoyed most about it was the acting and the football scenes. James VDB shows that he is capable of playing someone other than Dawson Leery. And his range in here is perfect. It also has to be mentioned that if this film was taken more seriously than it was, then I really think that John Voigt would be up for an Oscar nomination for his role as the control freak Bud Kilmer. He is the embodiment of an American football coach that seems to care only about his reputation and not his player's welfare. His southern, red neck twang, his pretencious gum chewing, his snarl when he barks orders and his domination of the entire town just by a simple comment made in a local diner shows how versatile and understanding of an actor that Voigt is. Coincidentally, I had just rented Anaconda two days before I saw this on Viewers Choice, and I was truly amazed at the range by Voigt. He really is terrific in this film. I also have to mention Ron Lester who plays Billy Bob, the guargantuanly over weight line backer with a heart of gold. At first when we meet him he is a caricature of every other over weight star athlete. He eats fatty foods like they were going out of style, he is the life of the party as he pukes and then comes back for more and he is one of the guys. But later in the film we see his character grow. There is more to his character than we initially see, and when he is given an opportunity to act, he is perfect as we see how he feels and how hurt he is. This really should be a breakout role for him.
Varsity Blues has some of the best football action I've ever seen filmed. The plays are realistic looking, the hits are violent and the symmetry of the completed plays are awesome to watch. This is a film that makes you feel like you are really watching a high school football game.
There is really nothing wrong with Varsity Blues and if you enjoy highschool themes like relationships and humour then you will probably love this film. And there is one more thing to love about this film, well two actually, if you are a guy that is. Ms. Davis and Darcy Sears. That whip cream bikini is something I'll never forget. What a dish.
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A glimpse at Texas football!
Having played football in West Texas for a 3-A dynasty team, this movie brings back the memories and the nightmares that a dynasty town can give. The scene with the convience store clerk giving Mox the beer is a regular thing as far as the players getting "special" treatment. The attitude of the players and coaches seem real. For a glimpse inside the fame Texas football attitude, this is the movie to watch!
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Predictable but Good!
Varsity Blues is a very predictable football drama that is very similar in tone and style to 2004's Friday Night Lights. While I like that film better, this is not a bad film at all. I was still able to root for and against some characters. This movie does a good job at holding my attention and bringing back some good high school memories.
Brian Robbin's film is about a Texas football team in the town of West Canaan. After the star quarterback is injured, the back up guy, Moxon is forced to deal with his relentless coach Kilmer, his disapproving girlfriend, and his football-loving parents while starting in his new role that is all strange for him.
The acting is pretty good. This is the first time I saw James Van Der Beek on film because I refuse to watch Dawson's Creek, but he does a pretty good job. Jon Voight gives a masterful performance as Kilmer and he just made me despise the character. Paul Walker does a good job and he does not even drive any cars!
Overall, this may be a clichéd sports film, but there are some subtle differences such as scenes involving whipped cream, religious little brothers, and a health teacher who is much more than that. Despite some flaws, I couldn't help but root for the Moxon kid. I rate this film 9/10.
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An enjoyable, entertaining diversion; what a movie is supposed to be.
This is an unpretentious and entertaining movie about high school football in a small Texas community. OK, so we know who will win the Big Game, and that the Hero won't sell out to the mean and selfish 23-District-Championships-Coach (Jon Voigt). The movie is well paced and a pleasant diversion; (many in the audience actually applauded at the climactic scenes in the final moments).
What I find most interesting about the fact that this film was produced in association with MTV, is that for a Network ostensibly dedicated to iconoclastic themes and attitudes (i.e., anti-establishment and counter-culture), this movie is remarkably "old-fashioned" in the adherence to values espoused by the hero. After he becomes the starting quarterback, he resists the come-ons of his predecessor's beautiful girlfriend, and he will sacrifice his own scholarship to Brown University (an Ivy League school in Rhode Island for those of you not familiar) rather than let another player be used and potentially physically damaged by the unscrupulous coach.
Some of the scenes are reminiscent of other football films: The Longest Yard, All the Right Moves, North Dallas Forty, and so on, but I guess there are no real surprises these days after decades of the same essential stories in Hollywood. This is not just a "football movie" or a "guy movie" however, and it's well worth a look.
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Waffles and whipped cream
"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!
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This is what real teenagers deal with.
I really liked this movie because it could have been me in high school. I recognized and empathized with many of the characters in this. At times it seems inane, but that is sort of real for teenagers to do. James Van Der Beek goes a little far with the character, who is a sheepish, pouty rebel. His acting and accent could have used some work too. His character is practically a port of his Dawson's Creek character. That is the biggest criticism: the characters seem a little too simplistic, and the resolutions to their problems seems scripted and forced at times. There is quite a bit of sexuality, which is very titilating. Unlike a Brett Easton Ellis based movie, there is more realism in this.
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In Texas it's God, Family, Country, and Football,.... maybe.
To me high school football is Texas football. I'm from South Florida and currently live in Southern Alabama as good as their programs are, they don't hold a candle to Texas football. I was lucky to play one year of J.V. football where I kept the bench nice and warm for the starters until in order to prevent the opponent from taking things out against the varsity team the next evening. The night of the homecoming bonfire there were more people at the J.V. game than at the event. Our opponent the Barbers Hill Eagles had already won the Varsity and Middle School Championship for the District and our game would cap off the hat trick. Going into the game we were confident of a victory because earlier in the year as a filler game we played and had easily won. No such luck. Suddenly the opponent suddenly gained twenty pounds of muscle and it was different. Thankfully due to two missed two point conversions and with a little over three minutes to go our star running ripped of a ninety three yard touchdown run to win the game. The Eagles coaches were so angry they made the team run back to the locker room ( they were bused in). Enough of memory lane.
Bud Kilmer legendary coach runs his team with an iron fist. Nothing will get in his way in order to win a district title. When his All-State quarterback suffers a career ending injury (in which he claims the extent was 'never brought to his attention') it is up to the backup to save the day. Turns out the back up was just as talented maybe even more so than the starter. A small act of rebellion has the coach threatening to sabotage his academic scholarship. It is then learned that the only reason why the team's star running only had three touchdowns were due to the fact he broke for runs over twenty yards. Now given when this movie was made I find it highly unlikely a coach would have that attitude maybe in the seventies or early eighties but no way a coach could last with that attitude. In a final act of defiance to preventing the ruin of an injured player well watch the movie.
One other thing, if Bud Kilmer was such a great coach, why did he only win two state championships?
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A little over the Top
But nonetheless a entertaining sports movie, all good fun made to look not so dangerous, you don't see the seedy nasty business that really goes on, oh you see it made to look funny but it this is what really goes on in high school football in most instances. Good acting for some teen up and comers actors in the 90s. Good movie but it doesn't take itself too seriously in some serious situations. A coming of age movie that I as a Teen thought it was great then and still has a spot in my heart, it was great then and still has a place in football movies at the top. Good Comedy/Drama.
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Varsity Blues to put it simply, ROCKS!!!
Out of all the MTV movies I've seen, "Varsity Blues" was definitely the best. It's cast did great acting and good portrayals of high school students and teachers. James Van Der Beek is just as good as the football jock as he is as movie buff Dawson on "Dawson's Creek". There is about an F word every 2 minutes and close up scenes of breasts, so this movie is not for kids. I'd say 14 and up. All out good teen movie. I would recommend it strongly.
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'Varsity Blues' (1999)
Warning: Spoilers
I really enjoyed the MTV Films era, and it's sad that it didn't last longer than it did, and 'Varsity Blues' feels almost like one of their more special endeavors because it is a far more serious effort than anything they had laid on us before. This definitely isn't 'Beavis And Butt-head Do America' or 'Jackass: The Movie'. The serious approach never really feels like it is taking itself too seriously, there is still obvious satire and blatantly crude gags littered about. 1999 was a long time ago now, and just taking a fast glance around this film we see a whole bunch of recognizable faces nowadays. Jon Voight who we all know from his seemingly endless slew of good performances, Paul Walker of 'The Fast And The Furious' fame, Ali Larter, Amy Smart, Scott Caan. But what about James Van Der Beek? This guy is a decent enough actor, he really gives off the right vibe as the kid who would rather read Vonnegut on the sidelines rather than play football, and I think it's quite shameful that he isn't in more films like this, he was almost generation-defining with his fame garnered from 'Dawson's Creek'. I guess the fact that he pretty much disappeared from the face of the Earth after he made 'The Rules Of Attraction' just helps to ensure the cult-status of films like 'Varsity Blues' in the first place. We have two people working on this project who also worked on 'Good Burger' a few years prior, our director Brian Robbins and Ron Lester who plays one of our more memorable characters here, and it's nice to see them all stepping up the maturity level a little bit. They went from graduating middle school (Nickelodeon) to graduating high school (MTV) in just two years.
I remember when this film first appeared in 1999, and I remember it being quite a popular "teen movie" at the time, and I'm only slightly disappointed in myself for having not watched it for a good 13 years after it was made. The film doesn't make you dig deep, it can be slightly predictable, but you are sure to walk away from this one feeling good about what you've just seen.
Also, every time I see Jon Voight, I can't help but think of Jerry Reed from 'The Waterboy' one year earlier.
VARSITY BLUES -----8/10.
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The Texas religion of football
Varsity Blues bear comparison with two other football related films. One is The Last Picture Show set some 50 years before the action of this film. Not much has changed in Texas in the passing years.
The second is another high school football classic All The Right Moves with Tom Cruise. Cruise and star James VanDerBeek are both 18 and about to graduate frm high school.
The scholarship that Cruise gets from football to an engineering school is his ticket out of his drab Pennsylvania coal mining town. VanDerBeek plays football because it's expected of him. He's a second string quarterback but is in the running for a scholarship on academics.
Then first string quarterback Paul Walker is injured and it falls on VanDerBeek. At that point we see what a lot of VanDerBeek's problem is and it's coach Jon Voight.
Like in every Texas small town the local football coach is the town's biggest celebrity. But VanDerBeek s intelligent enough to see him for what he is a ruthless user of his players who doesn't care one wit about the young people in his charge as long as they win for him and win his way.
Gradually however some others start to see Voight for what he is. Te climax is quite a revelation to Voight.
Varsity Blues stands good comparison to the other high school football films I mentioned and to others also. VanDerBeek and Voight lead a well cast film that's quite a bit more than your usual teen flick.
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A great late 90s teen movie with A killer soundtrack
When I first saw the ads for this movie on MTV I was a bit skeptic about it but when I saw it on VHS I loved it!!! Long before Friday night lights made Texas football cool again this movie made James van der beek an idol and featured Amy smart in a memorable scene .
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Varsity Isn't Blue.
Warning: Spoilers
Varsity Blues (1999): Dir: Brian Robbins / Cast: James Van Der Beek, Jon Voight, Paul Walker, Ron Lester, Scott Caan: Sports comedy with screwball elements yet takes its theme seriously. It regards a football team that has lost its star quarterback to a leg injury and how James Van Der Beek steps in becoming their star player. His parents jerk him in several directions. His relationship with his girlfriend is in pearl. His best friend's girlfriend presents herself with whipped cream covering her vital areas. Sounds like he has his dating life well in hand. Coach Bud threatens to terminate his scholarship. Despite its familiar grounds this film is a must for football fans. Huge improvement for director Brian Robbins who previously made an embarrassing ham handed mess called Good Burger. Van Der Beek is effective as he attempts to figure out where his life is headed. Jon Voight steal scenes as Bud whom Van Der Beek confronts regarding particular conduct that moves the team ahead. Paul Walker plays the injured quarterback whom Van Der Beek replaces. Ron Lester brings comic relief as Van Der Beek's friend who ended up with more concussions than needed. Another comic performance is from the wild antics of Scott Caan that are this side of breaking the law. Great combination of football action combined with screwball comedy and a strong theme regarding the illegal operations to succeed. Score: 8 / 10
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Mainly because of Voight
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.
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The religion of sport
Warning: Spoilers
In America we have laws to make this country run, in the town of West Canaan we have a law all of our own. This is how the movie Varsity Blues begins. It instantly lets you know that the town of West Canaan is somewhat different and it runs by a different set of rules. These rules are the rules of footballs and the players in the Coyotes are gods.
Varisty Blues shows us a town where football fever has become a religion and the football oval is the temple to their god, but their gods change frequently: for when the star player becomes severely injured, he vanishes to be replaced by another hero, and this time a reluctant one. What we see in Varsity Blues is a religion that exists - but the movie forces it out. Every football season here in Adelaide everybody goes Crow fanatic (the Crows are one of Adelaide's two football teams).
The thing with football here is that there is a lot of hypocrisy - when the team is on a loosing streak everybody hates them and have even booed them off of the field, while when they are on a winning streak, everybody dresses up in red, yellow, and blue, and goes hysterical over them. When confronted with this they claim that they followed the Crows through thick and thin - though we know that this is not true. What I don't like about football is that people will literally throw their responsibilities away when a game is on.
Back to Varsity Blues - this movie emphasises the hypocrisy that surrounds football. The religious aspect is brought out with Mox's younger brother who is really deeply religious. He creates his own cult and his father's reply is "I don't want to see any more of this - you are going to play football like your brother." Parents fight over who's son is the better football player, and all of them had the same coach - who literally runs the town.
Mox is an interesting fellow because he loves football, but detests the way the town idolises it. He states that what he is watching is a corruption of a good thing. He is more interested in a college degree in something that he likes, but his brilliant throw is forcing him to play football and to go down a career path that he does not want to go down. Moreso the coach is forcing the players to play until they are useless. He does not care about his team-member's health: he is more interested in winning. Unfortunately for the players, they are becoming crippled and being placed in very complicated and expensive surgery - and once they are gone then they have fallen from grace: this is clearly seen when Lance destroys his knee and his girlfriend leaves him for Mox.
Varsity Blues is a bit of a slutty movie, but it addresses a very important issue in our society - the way we idolise a sport and place mere mortals upon a pedestal, only to throw them away when they are no longer needed. I agree with Mox - sport is fun and enjoyable, but it becomes corrupted when people start treating it like a religion.
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My favorite sports movie
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.
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Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139699/reviews
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