Varsity Blues (1999)
Paramount; R; 100 minutes
Director: Brian Robbins
Cast: James Van Der Beek, Jon Voight, Paul Walker, Scott Caan, Ron Lester, Amy Smart, Ali Larter.
Review By: Geoff Berkshire
Star Rating: *1/2 (out of ****)
One of the first films of 1999 is this MTV Pictures release which marks the first leading feature role for James Van Der Beek, the star of The WB's runaway hit Dawson's Creek. Following in the foot steps of MTV's two other live action films, Joe's Apartment (1996) and Dead Man On Campus (1998), Varsity Blues is a bad film and is unlikely to cause much of a sensation in the marketplace.
Set in West Cannan, Texas, the film examines the small town obsession with high school football through the eyes of second string quarterback John "Mox" Moxon (Van Der Beek). We know he's smart because he reads Kurt Vonnegut instead of the playbook. Coach Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight) has been around so long there is actually a bronze statue commemorating him. The star quarterback, Lance Harbor (Paul Walker), is a handsome, blonde, hero who has his own billboard in his front yard and dates the sexy head cheerleader, Darcy (Ali Larter). Also on the team are an enormous guy (Ron Lester) with some health problems and the token African-American team member (Eliel Swinton) whose only real dialogue scene deals directly with the color of his skin.
When Lance is seriously injured, Mox gets his chance to shine and he runs with it, undermining Kilmer with his unusual playing strategies. His relationship with his dutiful girlfriend, Jules (Amy Smart), is threatened and there's a big game at the end. Guess who wins?
Nothing about Varsity Blues is inspired and the whole film simply moves through the sort of conventional motions that Coach Kilmer would love. There's a chance for some smart satire on small town obsessions but the humor here is decidedly lowbrow.
Van Der Beek does a decent job of carrying his first film although a silly accent trips him up sometimes. Also, the role isn't very much of a stretch from his Dawson Leary character. He's still a pseudo-intellectual, whiny, nice guy, except here he also happens to be a jock.
Voight is a terror as he chews up every single piece of scenery and spits it out. The other adults are all notably awful while the younger performers don't fare much better.
On the positive side, Walker is a charismatic actor who is due for a breakout role following this and his supporting turn in Pleasantville (1998). Scott (son of James) Caan has some lively moments as Tweeder, the team's wild man. Larter, as a gorgeous seductress looking for a one way ticket out of Texas, gets to show off the film's most interesting costumes, including a very eye-opening "whipped cream bikini."
It's interesting to note that the film definitely earns its R-rating with a lot of harsh language, alcohol abuse and an unusually high amount of nudity (including a gratuitous trip to a strip bar that reveals a not very surprising surprise). All this is likely to come as a shock to the young female fan base of Dawson's Creek, presumably the target audience for the picture.
Director Brian Robbins previously helmed the kids feature Good Burger (from Nickelodeon Films, a sister company of MTV) and changes directions here a bit but still fails to make much of an impression. The look of the movie is as bland as the town and characters who populate it. The football scenes are generally unexciting and the entire film looks a bit washed out.
There's an ok soundtrack featuring music from Collective Soul, Foo Fighters, Green Day and Aaliyah but it's not as impressive as one would expect from a MTV film.
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