Brother's Keeper

Love inspirational sports movies with messages of hope and overcoming obstacles, especially when they are true. Tried to watch this on a flight, but gave up after 30 minutes. Other than being introduced to kids from difficult situations, no plot unfolded during that time. Winning scores randomly flashed across the screen periodaclly to show that they were having success as underdogs, but no unfolding storyline was evident other than hard times in a rough town.

I had no idea what this movie was - my husband picked it out, so I had no preconceived expectations or notions at all.

Let's just say I'm not a huge football fan although I know enough and I can follow the plays. By the end of the movie, I was sitting on the edge of my seat, practically hitting my husband with excitement, as if we were in the stands.

What a pleasure to see teenagers with such beautiful values and morals (and faces and bodies. Oops - did I say that out loud?). And we really appreciated not being bombarded with offensive language.

Gee, they really do still make good movies.

Ok, so let me start off by saying that I live in Abilene Tx where this was shot. I went to the same High School and I remember this football season. I enjoyed watching the movie for that exact reason. They made our city look like an inner city, which it isn't. It's a pretty nice city, but kids can get mixed up in drugs and gangs like any other city. This city doesn't chew you up and spit you back out. It was interesting to see what these kids went through though and the hardships they overcame. That win was amazing for those boys and this entire city. I'm not sure if anyone outside our city would enjoy this movie, its not as great as Remember The Titans, but it might be a good rental for a boring night.

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.

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!