American Boys

Voight helps guide this ship and the young cast are surprisingly up to the challenge of being in his presence. The film is a little mixed early on as it flirts with teenage humour, but it course corrects later. The film is better when it deals with the competitive nature of sport in small towns. The final third of this movie is the best part and saves an odd film narrative from being completely overshadowed by teenage cheap humour.

Out of all the MTV movies I've seen, "Varsity Blues" was definitely the best. It's cast did great acting and good portrayals of high school students and teachers. James Van Der Beek is just as good as the football jock as he is as movie buff Dawson on "Dawson's Creek". There is about an F word every 2 minutes and close up scenes of breasts, so this movie is not for kids. I'd say 14 and up. All out good teen movie. I would recommend it strongly.

I really liked this movie because it could have been me in high school. I recognized and empathized with many of the characters in this. At times it seems inane, but that is sort of real for teenagers to do. James Van Der Beek goes a little far with the character, who is a sheepish, pouty rebel. His acting and accent could have used some work too. His character is practically a port of his Dawson's Creek character. That is the biggest criticism: the characters seem a little too simplistic, and the resolutions to their problems seems scripted and forced at times. There is quite a bit of sexuality, which is very titilating. Unlike a Brett Easton Ellis based movie, there is more realism in this.

If someone checks out the trailer, one might think, "Another MTV-produced teen flick. I think I'll pass on that." Well, I went into the theater not thinking it was going to be bad, but I expected more of an amusing film that isn't really high on ingenuity. True, "Varsity Blues" has those standard teen elements like wild drinking parties, the school slut, etc. But it never overuses those elements. It's more of a compelling comedy-drama about football that delivers a fine message about sportsmanship. You have a pretty good idea how it's going to end up, but it's the way it's executed that makes it special. Jon Voight is absolutely terrific as the no-nonsense coach. He's the kind of character you want to stab in the chest every minute he's on screen, and Voight was a perfect choice. The film dabbles with elements of the sport that probably hit home to some high school football players. Voight's character has only one goal: winning. And he doesn't care how he gets to that goal. If he has to shoot drugs into every one of his players, he's going to arrive at that goal. And I'm sure there are coaches out there who have that selfish goal. Then James Van Der Beek comes along, and his character is not really concerned with winning or playing football in the first place. But he likes football, has fun with it and simply wants to play a good, honest game. If the team wins, good. If it doesn't, so what. He has a good locker room speech at the end of the movie.

"Varsity Blues" is funny, moving and wonderfully acted. It might appeal more to teens and young adults, more than the older ones, but I still suggest everyone check it out.

Since this is a teen-oriented film, I must confess that I wasn't expecting this to be very entertaining. However, thanks to a generally intelligent script and a great job by Jon Voight, this turned out to be surprisingly good. As you would probably expect in a teen movie, there are some scenes that seem juvenile and pointless, but thankfully, this film manages to limit these needless diversions. The central story, although a familiar one, is well written and rather interesting. Definitely worth checking out.