Varsity Blues

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.