FFWD Weekly
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| Film by Richard Zywotkiewicz Varsity Blues Varsity Blues is a blatant, shameless attempt to create drama through the clichés of the quintessential sports story. It professes also to be a coming-of-age film. Though the performances of TV star James Van Der Beek (Dawson’s Creek) and its largely unknown cast are spirited, and veteran Jon Voight brings professionalism to the obligatory maniacal coach role, the film never even reaches mediocrity. In his 35th year as head coach, Bud Kilmer (Voight) is trying to lead his West Canaan Coyotes to their 23rd division title. Uncompromising and omnipotent, Kilmer is deified in the small Texas town, as long as the team is winning. But when star quarterback Lance Harbor suffers a season-ending injury, the Coyotes are forced to regroup under the questionable leadership of second-string quarterback Jonathan "Mox" Moxon (Van Der Beek). His irreverent attitude and approach to football come into direct conflict with the coach’s inflexible game plan. While reading Kurt Vonnegut on the sidelines, Mox dreams of going to college and getting away from football and the small town in which he lives. He is suddenly forced to deal with the pressures and temptations that come along with being a football star and his world is turned upside down. One of the many problems here is that the dramatic stakes in this fluff are so low that nothing is left to engage the audience. The team is clearly one of the best, so the only thing that keeps them from winning is drunken all-nighters at strip bars, or the coach, who for some reason, despite winning 22 straight regional championships, wants their last game to be played strictly by running. In one of the most illogical moments of a completely illogical film, they throw the coach out and the players rally themselves into a frenzy. The film’s limp theme of using one’s own beliefs to achieve one’s goal is laughable considering the coach’s logic makes no sense if it means the team’s victory is at stake. Also, Mox maintains throughout the film that football means nothing to him, so why should how he plays this championship game make any difference to him? Director and producer Brian Robbins makes some admirable gestures to reflect southern American culture and the running gag about an adolescent brother play acting every known prophet is cute, yet these devices are like running a heavy tank with aerosol fumes – they do nothing to keep the movie moving. Robbins actually thinks – sophomoronic humor aside – he’s making a movie of depth. Varsity Blues is a calculated, convoluted mess. It is a bad film in a bad genre. |
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