Do You Have Those ''Varsity Blues?''. Review on Varsity Blues Movie

“Varsity Blues” – R In a small Texas town, football is everything. The head Coach, Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight) is regarded as a hero. He has taken their high school football team to great levels. He has been the coach there for 30 years and coached most of the fathers of this years team. Lance (Paul Walker) is the star quarterback and is praised by everyone in town. The laws don’t seem to apply to these high school players. The police look the other way when they do something wrong. No one wants to upset their record. Jon Moxon (James Van Der Beek) is the second string quarterback. He has been a bench warmer all season. That all changes when Lance has a serious knee injury. All of a sudden, Jon is ultra-popular and even the once nasty coach is nice to him. He likes the attention, but is also concerned with getting into Brown University at the same time. After he disobeys the coach once, Kilmer threatens him. Can Jon do what is politically correct, or should he fall into line like everyone else in this small town?

“Varsity Blues” was written by W. Peter Iliff and directed by Brian Robbins. This was a great movie. It had all the aspects of a great movie. Jon Voight was the villian, Paul Walker played the fallen hero and James Van Der Beek was the rebel WITH a cause. It was a nice mix of actors. This movie came out in 1999 and helped to start off Paul Walker’s career. He has since had his own starring roles including last summer’s “Joy Ride.” On the other hand, this was Van Der Beek’s first starring role. He is trying hard to make the transition to the big screen from his TV series “Dawson’s Creek.” That may be a hard thing to do. Everyone knows him as Dawson!

I was glad to see so many new and upcoming faces in this movie. Amy Smart (who played Jon’s girlfriend) is on a fast rise to stardom. She has been seen in TV movies as well as big screen ones. Her latest success was last summer’s blockbuster “Rat Race.” Ali Larter (who played Darcy) and Scott Caan (who played Tweeter) coincidentally co-stared in another summer 2001 blockbuster, “American Outlaws.” Larter now has 8 movie credits to her name and that has all been accomplished in the last two years. Caan may not be a leading man in many films, but he is the most accomplished in this ensemble. He has appeared in 17 movies and he’s not done yet! He landed a role in this December’s most talked about movie, “Oceans 11” which stars Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and George Clooney. He is well on his way up the proverbial ladder! This movie may have been aimed at teens, but it was an all around good movie. Jon Voight is a guy you love to hate, like in many of his other roles. There is also comic relief and a moral code. I recommend this movie with these things in mind. PLUS: James Van Der Beek does a fantastic southern drawl! I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of these great actors.

Enjoy! ©2001 KAC