We're taking bets that if you like football you will love "Friday Night Lights"...

Every sport needs a movie that can help define it. Baseball is very lucky to have three such movies in The Natural, Field of Dreams, and Bull Durham. Basketball has Hoosiers. Gymnastics and Figure Skating even have American Anthem and Cutting Edge respectively. I don't think that football has really had that movie until now after a ton of duds.

Friday Night Lights was an excellent movie. PERIOD. END OF STORY. The fact that it was about football shouldn't matter one bit. The movie was based on a book written by H. G. Bissinger in 1990 following the Permian High School Football team of 1988. The characters are all real and the story is entirely true.

The movie was so good that I didn't even care that I read the book twice and knew the outcome because I was rooting for this team to succeed throughout the movie. If you haven't read the book I will not ruin the story for you. Here are the highlights Peter Berg did an excellent job of directing real football action. Tim McGraw (yes the country singer) plays a convincing pushy drunk father. Billy Bob Thorton (in easily his best work since Sling Blade), job as the football coach Gary Gaines was incredible. I actually thought I would have loved playing for him in High School. All of the High School students were excellent and I think that Derek Luke may become the next superstar actor. (If you haven't seen him in Antwone Fisher go rent it right now.)

Whether you like football or not you should see this movie. Just be prepared to laugh a little, to tense up a lot in anticipation and to wipe a tear from your cheek numerous times during the movie. If you have seen it give me your thoughts especially if you think another football movie was better. (Yes I liked Necessary Roughness but only because Kathy Ireland was really hot the entire time she was in the movie.)