If you enjoy sports movies, this is one of the better football films that were made in the last decade. It is loaded with a talented cast and has some unique characters in it. The story centers on a small town in Texas where football is everything. The community attends each game and they are fans of the West Canaan Coyotes. It was written by W. Peter Iliff. This was directed by Brian Robbins who you might remember as an actor from television playing Eric Mardian on the show “Head of the Class” which aired between 1986 until 1991.
The simple tagline was “Make your own rules”
The high school team consists of James Van Der Beek playing Jonathon ‘Mox’ Moxon. You might know him best from the television series “Dawnson’s Creek” as Dawson Leery. He is accompanied by Amy Smart who plays Jules Harbor his girlfriend. She is a stable presence in his life. Whereas his family life is somewhat normal aside from his father Sam Moxon played by Thomas F. Duffy who constantly pushes him towards his choices about football to an extreme. Jon Voight plays Coach Bud Kilmer and also pressures Jonathon ‘Mox’ Moxon to follow his rules only. This creates some interesting dynamics between the characters. Coach Bud Kilmer wants to win his 23rd division title and the stakes are high. Ron Lester plays Billy Bob and has known Jonathon ‘Mox’ Moxon since they were in pee wee football together. You might not recognize Ron now as he has lost an astonishing 350 pounds since the release of this film.
You will notice a younger Paul Walker best known from The Fast and the Furious (2001) as Lance Harbor the first string quarterback. He has a relationship with Ali Larter who plays Darcy Sears, and has a very remember able scene involving whipped cream in this film. Scott Caan plays Wildman Charlie Tweeder and would later re-team with Paul Walker in the film Into the Blue (2005). Richard Lineback plays Joe Harbor, Tiffany C. Love is Collette Harbor, Eliel Swinton is Wendell Brown, Jill Parker-Jones is Mo Moxon, Tonie Perensky is Miss Davis, Joe Pichler is Kyle Moxon, and Mark Walters is Chet McNurty.
James Van Der Beek won an MTV Movie Award for his role in this film; the film certainly says some things about life, football and the different directions people can go in. I recommend this film to football fans, and to everyone because it touches upon different things in life we seem to experience.
Varsity Blues (1999) Review , 4.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating
