VARSITY BLUES Cast: James Van Der Beek, Jon Voight, Amy Smart, Paul Walker, Scott Caan, Ali Larter, Ron Lester, Eliel Swinton Director: Brian Robbins Screenplay: John Gatins, W. Peter Iliff Australian theatrical release: April 1, 1999 Reviewed by Luke Buckmaster
On the Buckmaster scale of 0 stars (bomb), to 5 stars (a masterpiece): 2 stars
It helps to enjoy some films if you have a passion for their subject matter, whilst it is crucial for others. Varsity Blues falls into the later category. I openly admit that I have little interest in American Football, and had this film been centered around, say, basketball, chances are I would have enjoyed it a lot more. James "Dawson" Van Der Beek stars as a man thrust into fame, and his transformation from cynical bench warmer to a town icon is never entirely believable nor very inspiring. At some stages in the film it appears as though his character will spiral out of control as he experiences a new world of fame, only to have him grounded time and time again by director Brian Robbins. Not only does this reduce our interest; it also strips Moxon of personality.
The West Canaan Coyotes are a fierce and omnipotent Football team for a small Texas town. Led by unrelenting coach Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight), the team is on their way to winning their 23rd division title. However, star quarterback Lance Harbor (Paul Walker) suffers a season-ending injury, and the underestimated Jonathon Moxon (James Van Der Beek) is unwillingly thrust into filling his important place in the team. Moxon soon becomes a town icon, whilst him and the rest of the team struggle to perform up to Kilmer's tough standards.
James Van Der Beek is an acceptable performer who acts slow and steady. If you like him in TV's Dawson's Creek, chances are you'll like him here - if you take away "Dawson's" complex dialogue, this is the kind of role that you will expect. Jon Voight has landed on nasty territory in his part as a vicious and uncaring coach (very much like Nick Nolte in Blue Chips). It is a pity that it takes almost the entire film's running time for Voight's character to convey any emotion; the image of the coach's sorrowful face reflecting through a football award is quite a profound moment and says piles more than any of his rambling speeches. Aside from this scene, Varsity Blues is a fairly meaningless experience - its occasional examinations of the pressure mounted on football players fall on uninterested ears (especially in my case).
The football games themselves are built from the cliches we've come to expect - the team's best player suffers a career ending injury, the team play really really badly after an all night drinking binge and, of course, the final game is a "thrilling" buzzer beater. There was only one sports scene that I genuinely enjoyed - a head banging, body smashing moment performed to the tune of the Foo Fighters' "My Hero."
Overall, Varsity Blues is a film with some strong performances but a script ridden with sports cliches and a dramatic side that never steps into second gear. Still, if you like American Football, Varsity Snooze - sorry, Blues - might be worth warming to.
Read more of my reviews at In Film Australia http://infilmau.iah.net
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