Friday Night Lights Series 1 review

Reviews

Oct 29th 2007 By Total Film

No sets, no make-up, no schmaltz. That’s the trick in this intriguing American football soap (spun off from Peter Berg’s 2004 film) which has been making (Mexican) waves Stateside. It’s set in the fictional town of Dillon, Texas, where high-school football is the community’s lifeblood. It’s up to newly appointed Coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) to ensure that his team, the Panthers, deliver every Friday night. But when star player Jason Street (Scott Porter) is paralysed during a game, the action really starts to avalanche. Easily dismissible as yet another claptrap US teen series, FNL sets itself apart by making naturalism the all-important buzzword. This is One Tree Hill with the veneer stripped off and the dialogue polished up. Interweaving electrifying gameplay with domestic discord, it’s a cocktail that shouldn’t work yet brilliantly does. Shame about the lack of extras...