Starring: James Van Der Beek, Amy Smart, Jon Voight, Paul Walker, Ron Lester Directed By: Brian Robbins Average Rating: Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: VHS Tape Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, Special Edition, NTSC Label: Paramount Number of Items: 1 Release Date: March 07, 2000 Running Time: 105 minutes Theatrical Release Date: January 15, 1999
Amazon.com: This MTV-produced drama only looks like an adaptation of H.G. Bissinger's expert dissertation of the church of high school football, Friday Night Lights. The energetic, breezy movie has none of the seriousness of Bissinger's book except on its basic level: in West Texas, high school football is life. Into this world comes Jonathan "Mox" Moxon (James Van Der Beek), a brainy, uncharacteristic jock who sits on the sideline reading Slaughterhouse Five until the West Caanan High School Coyotes All-Texas QB goes down with an injury. Suddenly the spotlight and the tyrannical ways of coach Bud Kilmer (another ace evil turn by Jon Voight) are on Mox and the light is white-hot. There have been several films that show tough, honest kids doing their best against the worst of small-town coaches (Tom Cruise in All the Right Moves, for one) but Varsity Blues, in its glossy style, takes a more curious turn: studying what happens when celebrity comes to the well-adjusted high schooler. Mox starts seeing the rewards of stardom: a six-pack under the counter, acceptance in school, even easy sex from the girl who goes after the starting quarterback (Ali Larter). Will Mox win the big game? Will he bend to the wills of his coach? Will he stay with his old girlfriend? The questions are easy enough to answer, but the film has an ace up its sleeve: Van Der Beek has the stuff to carry the movie. Fans of TV's Dawson's Creek will see a slightly grittier dreamboat here, and Van Der Beek's care with the role makes the most ludicrous parts--including a trip to a strip club--manage a certain aura. --Doug Thomas
A forgettable film lifted above scores of similar teen and sports movies only by the hard-R nature of its dialogue and nudity, Varsity Blues can boast a likable James Van Der Beek, a few amusing scenes, and little else.
Dawson with a football and accent. Varsity Blues starring James Van Der Beek is a pretty lame and vile film. Van Der Beek's acting sounds and looks so fake, don't even get me started with that southern accent he tries to pull off, ugh! Amy Smart and Paul Walker are great and make this film not so unbearable. I am sure a lot of guys like this film for that whipped cream bikni scene with Ali Larter. The dialogue is unforgivable, the movie plays good songs though.
An appealing movie I liked this movie. A lot. Yet, it's a relatively standard teen angst/sports flick--but the engaging cast makes it worth watching. Varsity Blues isn't great film-making, but it's great storytelling. You care about the players and their friends and the characters are believable.
You also hate Bud Kilmer, the win-obsessed coach that treats high school players like disposable cameras at a wedding--use them for important moments and then toss them. Jon Voight plays Kilmer with so much intensity that you cringe when he's on the screen.
Some people object to the portrayal of reckless drinking and sex, but the film also has a moral lesson for life that eventually supplants the teenage misbehavior and rebellion phase.
The Shut Mouth Society The Shopkeeper
The hard work of so many, sacrificed by the disrespect of few In 'Mean Girls' there is a reference to 'Varsity Blues.' In a montage of ordinary students who are in awe of Regina George (Rachel McAdams), one of them comments that her favorite movie is 'Varsity Blues.' I thought that Tina Fey and the 'Mean Girls' writers must have been mocking this movie, so I decided that if it was worth mocking, it would be worth watching. If it's good enough for Regina George, it's good enough for me. Let the mocking begin:
Top Ten Reasons to Watch 'Varsity Blues'
1. Football. & football in Texas is like a religion. Did I say like? In Texas, football IS a religion. Though an actual high school football player might scoff at 'Varsity Blues' with regards to the football scenes, I believe that the football scenes are some of the best scenes in 'Varsity Blues.' The actors trained like athletes, and were surrounded by actual football players, and when they filmed the football scenes, they were playing for keeps.
2. Billy Bob. At first he seemed a cartoonish, cardboard, 2-dimensional character. He has a pet pig that he treated like a pet dog. Ron Lester was 28 but he pulled off a character only 18, albeit a big boy, but because he possessed such a baby face. Though he seemed a buffoon at first glance, his story arc was in actual fact serious drama. He sneaked in under the radar making you think he was just a clown, but then sucker punched you with a dramatic scene.
3. Charlie Tweeder. I wish I could quote you some of his bon mots, but they would all be bleeped by the censor.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charlie Tweeder: Hey you wanna see the new Tweeder end zone dance? [Tweeder dances] Charlie Tweeder: You know what it's called? Mox: What? Charlie Tweeder: The new Tweeder end zone dance.
Charlie Tweeder is one particular piece of humanity. He is an unbridled id, representing the archetypal party animal, the jock on the loose, the one who gets away with everything because he plays on the football team.
4. Bud Kilmer. Jon Voight played Bud, a coach with a killer instinct, pushing them to win at any cost. He made a darn good villain.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bud Kilmer: Never show weakness, the only pain that matters is the pain you inflict.
5. Jules Harbor. Amy Smart played Lance's sister, Jules.
6. Darcy Sears. Ali Larter played Lance's girlfriend, Darcy Sears.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Darcy: Baby I got so excited thinking about next year and Florida state and the future, I think I need to be your wide receiver Lance: Here baby Darcy: Well not "here" here, but somewhere here.
7. Kyle. His younger brother is a total nutcase, which is a little over the top, but somehow the manic zaniness blends with the more somber tones. Kyle is always deep into the latest flavor of religion; he is wearing pure white robes or has a cult of followers worshiping him. You'd think it would disrupt the whole time-space continuum, but 'Varsity Blues' was somehow able to get away with it time after time.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mo Moxon: Kyle, did you start a cult? Kyle: Yup. Mo Moxon: That is so sweet!
8. Lance Harbor. Paul Walker played Lance, the quarterback who was the star of their town until an injury sidelined him. Not just a pretty face, he can act as well.
9. Jonathon 'Mox' Moxon. What a great name for this character. He mocks. Ergo, 'Mox.' James Van Der Beek is well known to young females of a certain demographic for his role as Dawson Leery of television's 'Dawson Creek.' He brings a lot to his part; he is the strong moral center that holds the story together, the throw rug that ties the whole room together, to quote The Dude.
He is a little bit smarter than most of the small town hicks, but he only mocks them in his own mind. His eyes roll ever so slightly, but we can tell what he is thinking. He is too polite and charming to say it out loud. But we hear you loud and clear.
Because Lance is the star quarterback, Moxon is content to sit on the bench reading 'Slaughter House Five' by Kurt Vonnegut. He hides it in his playbook, but he isn't as smart as he thinks he is, and Coach Bud Kilmer sees right through him:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coach Bud Kilmer: You got to be the dumbest smart kid I know.
10. Miss Davis. Tonie Perensky as Miss Davis embodies yet another archetype that springs to life before our eyes in 'Varsity Blues.' She is the sexy librarian, or in this case the bespectacled teacher, who moonlights as a stripper. Though this is a universal fantasy of adolescent males, and I am acutely aware that I am being manipulated, I don't mind being manipulated in the least. Manipulate away.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Billy Bob: Miss Davis, would you go to the prom with me?
When the team visits her place of employment in the evening, and she dances for them, she bears a distinct resemblance to Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. Though this movie was released in 1999, it couldn't be timelier. Larry Flynt scrambles to get his Nailin' Palin in the store by Xmas, but fast forward 'Varsity Blues' and there she is. Say it ain't so, Sarah.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Charlie Tweeder: [after stealing a cop car] I'm gonna go to jail!
Top Ten Movies to Compare and Contrast with 'Varsity Blues;' or Songs that were in 'Varsity Blues.'
1. Mean Girls (Special Collector's Edition)
2. Dazed and Confused
3. The Basketball Diaries
4. Nimrod "Nice Guys Finish Last" by Green Day
5. Varsity Blues: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture
6. 1984 "Hot for Teacher" by Van Halen
7. Starship Troopers
8. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
9. All the Right Moves
10. Midnight Cowboy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bud Kilmer: The hard work of so many, sacrificed by the disrespect of few.
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