# Varsity Blues (1999)

### reviewed by
Frankie Paiva

    Varsity Blues ***
    Starring James Van Der Beek, Jon Voight
    Directed by Brian Robbins
    A Review by Frankie Paiva

Many a film have been showing us the different aspect's of what high schools are in all different parts of the U.S. Whether is be four guys trying to loose their virginity, the ugly duckling turning into a swan, or the longtime love of Dawson and Joey, filmmakers are finding more ways to showcase this four year portion of our lives.

But this is West Canaan, Texas. Football rules all, the coach is evil, and the police are stupid. Lance Harbor (Paul Walker) star quarterback for the Coyotes (he has a huge billboard that says that in front of his house) is being pushed by the venomous coach Kilmer (Voight, who's performance here should go right next to his in Anaconda) to play even though he's letting off scar tissue by the minute. He permanently damages his leg during the middle of the game.

The replacement is Johnathan Moxon (Van Der Beek) he's more interested in reading Slaughterhouse Five than he is looking through the football plays. He has a couple of plays of his own and he decides to try them out, besides he's not going to play football ever again anyway. Kilmer doesn't like the fact that he's not listening to him and tries to jeopardize his scholarship to Brown. It all leads up to the big game, will they win, will they lose? (Yawn..).

The movie starts out as if it could be a well-drawn out thoughtful look at high school sports, however this couldn't happen because MTV Productions is on the label and the director is the co-creator of Kenan & Kel and All That. So they fill in the cracks with countless scenes of uneeded nudity and profanity. While the first half provides incredible insight, the second is a predictable sports movie. So for that I give it *** stars.

    A Review by Frankie Paiva
    The 12 Year-Old Movie Reviewer
    E-Mail me at SwpStke@aol.com

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