Under the Stadium Lights

Don't waste your time. The story was worth about 15 minutes of footage. It was like the Director went to the cutting room floor and added an hour and a half of footage just so they could call it a movie instead of a trailer. That footage should have stayed on the cutting room floor.

Full disclosure--I am from Abilene, and I think I have a pretty good eye for movies.

This film will not win any academy awards, but it is a good story that needed to be told.

The events in the movie are very close to true events and the lives the athletes led. They even took out some of the more sensational true events that were not as relevant to the plot.

I saw a rough cut of this movie when it was still called Brother's Keeper. From there, they re-edited the movie extensively, definitely for the better. If this was a Marvel movie, they would have done reshoots once they saw what they had in editing. Unfortunately, that was not feasible with this movie and budget. Just a few days of reshoots and pickups would have made a big difference. Seeing the evolution of the movie, I can tell what they wanted to do, but they just didn't have the tape. Hence, you are left with some plot holes, actual game tape that looks like it was filmed on VHS, and some other things I would have done differently. BTW, I say all this without ever having talked to anyone involved in directing or editing the movie, but it is pretty clear to me.

With the bad out of the way, I am really proud of Chad Mitchell and the stories he told. A lot of the kids were from very troubled backgrounds, and they had to be each other's family, because they had really bad home lives. They truly came together in a "Remember the Titans" way. That is not added to the story artificially.

They did a good job with shooting the big game. Again, it was mostly true to the real game, except the final score was a little more lopsided.

Milo Gibson did a good job, and Lawrence Fishburne did a great job. Fishburne played local BBQ legend Harold, and yes, he would randomly burst into song, whether in the kitchen or in the dining room. You can find it pretty easily on YouTube. Unfortunately, Fishburne was so magnetic, it kind of highlighted the lack of acting chops on some of the kids.

So, if you like football, Texas, high school kids overcoming obstacles, or all the above, I think you will enjoy this movie. As I said, it is a story that needs to be told.

I can't speak for everyone but I actually really enjoyed this movie! There were a lot of great actors, and several scenes really provoked emotion. All in all, I loved it. I think they did a really great job!

As an Abilene resident, and an Abilene High alum, I had many chances to be apart of this film. I'm glad I wasn't. While I've definitely seen worse films, and there are some moments of good. Both Abilene and this Story deserve better. I'm all for indie movies but for first time directors and writers, I feel more extensive research needed to be done for this film. Abilene may also have rough places but there is a lot of beauty here and I think the filmmakers chose not to focus on that. While Laurence Fishburne and Milo Gibson are fine actors, the direction is completely off and the entire movie feels like a needless copy pandering to the crowd who enjoyed "Friday Night Lights" further evidenced by the films title change from Brother's Keeper to Under the Stadium Lights. Which is not a fair title considering that all games filmed in this movie take place during the DAY! I had many friends as extras in the film and two of my brothers are even in this as extras. This film could have been something very special and open up the country to Abilene, TX. But it seems the filmmakers didn't truly care about telling a good story and only about making a quick buck and stretching their talents for the future. Who knows maybe there will be better films in the future one bad film doesn't make a person a bad storyteller. But for a city who really care for this team and the personal stories it highlights deserve a shot at something a whole lot bigger.

Very good movie. Inspiring for all ages. Especially for a kid that plays sports. Beautiful Story line. Good action and also good acting by some very good actors. I remember the 2009 Abilene High Eagles Team They were the Greatest Team in the State of Texas and also the Greatest Team in the Country. I remember going to their football games and cheering on them to their every Win. That was 2009 and it's 2024 and it's about time Abilene had another State Champion again. It's about time Abilene High School Eagles had another Championship Team for their School. Let's Go Abilene High Eagles!! Let's Win Another State Championship Once Again.