Hut one! There’s absolutely nothing in the teen soap opera “Varsity Blues” that hasn’t been covered before in other football movies.
Hut two! Be it high school ball (1983’s “All The Right Moves”), college ball (1993’s “The Program”) or pro ball (1979’s excellent “North Dallas Forty”), the thrill and agony of pigskin life has been well documented on screen.
Hut three! But football can be such a rich source for storytelling, especially in small towns where the Friday night game is the major social event of the week, that there is always room for an entertaining late entry, even one produced and directed by the team that gave us the rancid “Good Burger.”
Hike!
“Varsity Blues” plays out in the small Texas town of West Canaan (which was the name, you may remember, of the land that God promised Abraham in the Old Testament). And promise remains the name of the game here, as the West Canaan Coyotes rapidly approach yet another district championship, led by their steely-eyed legend of a coach, Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight), and riding the shotgun arm of their star quarterback, Lance Harbor (Paul Walker from “Pleasantville”), who already has received a full scholarship to Florida State.
But the key drama is taking place on the sidelines, where little-used backup quarterback Jon Moxon (James Van Der Beek, from television’s “Dawson’s Creek”) is killing time on the bench until graduation, sneaking a read of Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five” instead of studying the Holy Playbook. All seems right in the world and the football-crazed town, until golden-boy Lance goes down with a serious knee injury (he had been taking Kilmer-approved painkillers to mask the warning signs), which forces Mox to take over the team. And when he proves successful, he is suddenly forced to question his previously established priorities, now that he is the one being idolized. Fame can be fun, he realizes, especially when you have cheerleaders offering themselves up to you a la mode.
Part of what makes the story enjoyable — in addition to the inevitable clash between rigid coach and wide-eyed rebel — are the assorted supporting players who roam in and out of the script and locker room. They include a seriously overweight good-old-boy lineman named Billy Bob (what else?), who is bullied into playing hurt by the uncaring coach, and a wise-guy wide receiver named Tweeder (played by James Caan’s son, Scott), who is the true crazy man of the crowd, pulling off pranks like stealing the town police car for a drunken joyride.
But ultimately, it is the old pro Voight who proves to be the glue (well, Velcro anyway) that keeps the tale together. He is so wonderfully believable as the racist coach who rules the team and the town that I found myself imagining that Bud Kilmer was really Joe Buck from “Midnight Cowboy,” 30 years later, who had returned to his home state of Texas after the death of Ratso Rizzo, a bitter and angry man.
There are plenty of things that don’t work in the film, most notably an offensive subplot about a nervous biology teacher who moonlights as a stripper. And there are other potentially fascinating stories that remain underdeveloped, including the strained relationships between the failed fathers of the town and their successful sons.
But if you are willing to overlook the occasional missed block, clumsy tackle or dropped pass, there is more than enough in “Varsity Blues” to keep you engrossed. The football scenes are involving, the acting is up to snuff, and there is something about those last days of high school that remains a solid background for even the most familiar of stories.
”VARSITY BLUES”
(star) (star) 1/2
Directed by Brian Robbins; written by W. Peter Iliff; photographed by Charles Cohen; production designed by Jaymes Hinkle; edited by Ned Bastille; music by Mark Isham. A Paramount Pictures release; opens Friday. Running time: 1:40. MPAA rating: R (nudity, sexual situations, strong language).
THE CAST
Jon Moxon …………. James Van Der Beek
Bud Kilmer ………… Jon Voight
Lance Harbor ………. Paul Walker
Billy Bob …………. Ron Lester
Tweeder …………… Scott Caan
Darcy …………….. Ali Larter
Julie Harbor ………. Amy Smart
Wendell …………… Eliel Swinton
