The road to hell is paved with movies like “Under the Stadium Lights,” a well-intentioned but wearyingly ponderous and curiously disjointed faith-based drama about football players and their dedicated chaplain at a high school in Abilene, Texas. It doesn’t help much that, with its bumpy pacing, gaping plot holes, and supporting characters who grab attention and then inexplicably disappear, the movie plays like a miniseries that has been ruthlessly cut down to feature length. And it helps even less that the sluggish narrative is repeatedly and interminably padded with local TV footage of actual 2009 football games emblazoned with on-screen signage for local advertisers.
During the opening minutes, we’re informed: “Here in Abilene, we got faith, we got family, and we got football. The Holy Trinity.” Lest you think that just a smidge sacrilegious, consider the source: Chad Mitchell, an Abilene clergyman who serves as spiritual advisor for the...
During the opening minutes, we’re informed: “Here in Abilene, we got faith, we got family, and we got football. The Holy Trinity.” Lest you think that just a smidge sacrilegious, consider the source: Chad Mitchell, an Abilene clergyman who serves as spiritual advisor for the...
- 6/3/2021
- by Joe Leydon
- Variety Film + TV
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