Varsity Blues (1999)

I love this movie so much

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

good back-story, and good acting

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

A movie about a high school football team, created by MTV, starring all the teen-heartthrobs of the late 90s, I couldn't have been more uninterested. For 17 years, I avoided seeing this film, I figured it would be a steaming pile full of good looking people with their shirts off, but after catching the ending on TV, I decided to check it out and I'm glad I did. In Texas, football is everything, even at the high school level. The West Canaan Coyotes are one of the best teams in the state, thanks to a hard nosed, old school coach, and an NFL bound Quarterback, but their perfect season takes a turn when the Quarterback goes down with a serious knee injury. The Coyotes are left in the hands of John Moxon (James Van Der Beek), a kid who hasn't taken a snap in three years, who is only on the team because of his father. The coach hates him, the town doubts him, but something amazing happens when Mox is on the field, he's actually good. James Van Der Beek stars and honestly, I always felt that he was too much into the whole teen-heartthrob persona, I never took him seriously as an actor, or envisioned him being good in a role like this. Just as the town was surprised by how good Mox was on the field, I was just as surprised by how good Van Der Beek was in this role. When you add Jon Voight to the equation, as the hard nosed coach, things really come together. The two men hate each other, but are forced to work together, it's this dynamic and tension behind the scenes that really makes the off the field action as interesting as what's taking place on the field. Varsity Blues is produced by MTV, stars actors I normally wouldn't watch, and as it turns out it is one of the most exciting and intense sports films I've ever seen. One of the things I love about films, is that you can never judge them based on anything else other than their content. On the surface, this is something I'd never watch, but happenstance brought me to it, and it's honestly one of the best football movies I've ever seen.

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-

In the football-worshiping town of West Canaan, Texas, bench-warming James Van Der Beek (as Jonathan "Mox" Moxon) gets his chance to score when handsome blond quarterback Paul Walker (as Lance Harbor) is sidelined by injury. Hefty Ron Lester (as Billy Bob) and his pet pig "Bacon" give the film weighty fun. Horny Scott Caan (as Charlie Tweeder) adds latent homosexual laughs. Kept back in high school, the lads are pushed to the limit by loud-mouthed coach Jon Voight (as Bud Kilmer). There are plenty of shirt-shedding cheerleader types, hot for football muscle - especially luscious Ali Larter (as Darcy Sears) in a whipped cream bikini.*** Varsity Blues (1/15/99) Brian Robbins ~ James Van Der Beek, Jon Voight, Paul Walker, Ron Lester

"Varsity Blues" is much better than you would expect it to be. It is billed terribly as nothing more than MTV's idea of attractive people all acting like stuck-up bimbos and macho jerks. Surprisingly, this is not what you get from this film.Instead you get a great football movie with some very memorable scenes. The shining moment is the halftime showdown between the coach and team. That scene is very nicely done and a great climax to everything that led up to it.Jon Voight certainly helps the film as he is magnificent in his role as the coach. The rest of the cast is not too shabby in their respective roles either.I was split as whether to give this a six or a seven, and I did settle on six, because the script is definitely familiar and some of what happens is unrealistic and cheesy. All in all this is a fun movie that tells a good story and does have some genuine emotion. Definitely worth a watch.