Love inspirational sports movies with messages of hope and overcoming obstacles, especially when they are true. Tried to watch this on a flight, but gave up after 30 minutes. Other than being introduced to kids from difficult situations, no plot unfolded during that time. Winning scores randomly flashed across the screen periodaclly to show that they were having success as underdogs, but no unfolding storyline was evident other than hard times in a rough town.
8 Reviews
Why is it called Under the Stadium lights if all the games are during the day?
thepriceofpayne17 September 2021
As an Abilene resident, and an Abilene High alum, I had many chances to be apart of this film. I'm glad I wasn't. While I've definitely seen worse films, and there are some moments of good. Both Abilene and this Story deserve better. I'm all for indie movies but for first time directors and writers, I feel more extensive research needed to be done for this film. Abilene may also have rough places but there is a lot of beauty here and I think the filmmakers chose not to focus on that. While Laurence Fishburne and Milo Gibson are fine actors, the direction is completely off and the entire movie feels like a needless copy pandering to the crowd who enjoyed "Friday Night Lights" further evidenced by the films title change from Brother's Keeper to Under the Stadium Lights. Which is not a fair title considering that all games filmed in this movie take place during the DAY! I had many friends as extras in the film and two of my brothers are even in this as extras. This film could have been something very special and open up the country to Abilene, TX. But it seems the filmmakers didn't truly care about telling a good story and only about making a quick buck and stretching their talents for the future. Who knows maybe there will be better films in the future one bad film doesn't make a person a bad storyteller. But for a city who really care for this team and the personal stories it highlights deserve a shot at something a whole lot bigger.
Terrible.
vazzarello14 August 2021
Don't waste your time. The story was worth about 15 minutes of footage. It was like the Director went to the cutting room floor and added an hour and a half of footage just so they could call it a movie instead of a trailer. That footage should have stayed on the cutting room floor.
Soooo glad we watched this gem.
rcriggs-563622 June 2021
I had no idea what this movie was - my husband picked it out, so I had no preconceived expectations or notions at all.
Let's just say I'm not a huge football fan although I know enough and I can follow the plays. By the end of the movie, I was sitting on the edge of my seat, practically hitting my husband with excitement, as if we were in the stands.
What a pleasure to see teenagers with such beautiful values and morals (and faces and bodies. Oops - did I say that out loud?). And we really appreciated not being bombarded with offensive language.
Gee, they really do still make good movies.
Let's just say I'm not a huge football fan although I know enough and I can follow the plays. By the end of the movie, I was sitting on the edge of my seat, practically hitting my husband with excitement, as if we were in the stands.
What a pleasure to see teenagers with such beautiful values and morals (and faces and bodies. Oops - did I say that out loud?). And we really appreciated not being bombarded with offensive language.
Gee, they really do still make good movies.
A mixed bag, but worth it
TexForever10 June 2021
Full disclosure--I am from Abilene, and I think I have a pretty good eye for movies.
This film will not win any academy awards, but it is a good story that needed to be told.
The events in the movie are very close to true events and the lives the athletes led. They even took out some of the more sensational true events that were not as relevant to the plot.
I saw a rough cut of this movie when it was still called Brother's Keeper. From there, they re-edited the movie extensively, definitely for the better. If this was a Marvel movie, they would have done reshoots once they saw what they had in editing. Unfortunately, that was not feasible with this movie and budget. Just a few days of reshoots and pickups would have made a big difference. Seeing the evolution of the movie, I can tell what they wanted to do, but they just didn't have the tape. Hence, you are left with some plot holes, actual game tape that looks like it was filmed on VHS, and some other things I would have done differently. BTW, I say all this without ever having talked to anyone involved in directing or editing the movie, but it is pretty clear to me.
With the bad out of the way, I am really proud of Chad Mitchell and the stories he told. A lot of the kids were from very troubled backgrounds, and they had to be each other's family, because they had really bad home lives. They truly came together in a "Remember the Titans" way. That is not added to the story artificially.
They did a good job with shooting the big game. Again, it was mostly true to the real game, except the final score was a little more lopsided.
Milo Gibson did a good job, and Lawrence Fishburne did a great job. Fishburne played local BBQ legend Harold, and yes, he would randomly burst into song, whether in the kitchen or in the dining room. You can find it pretty easily on YouTube. Unfortunately, Fishburne was so magnetic, it kind of highlighted the lack of acting chops on some of the kids.
So, if you like football, Texas, high school kids overcoming obstacles, or all the above, I think you will enjoy this movie. As I said, it is a story that needs to be told.
This film will not win any academy awards, but it is a good story that needed to be told.
The events in the movie are very close to true events and the lives the athletes led. They even took out some of the more sensational true events that were not as relevant to the plot.
I saw a rough cut of this movie when it was still called Brother's Keeper. From there, they re-edited the movie extensively, definitely for the better. If this was a Marvel movie, they would have done reshoots once they saw what they had in editing. Unfortunately, that was not feasible with this movie and budget. Just a few days of reshoots and pickups would have made a big difference. Seeing the evolution of the movie, I can tell what they wanted to do, but they just didn't have the tape. Hence, you are left with some plot holes, actual game tape that looks like it was filmed on VHS, and some other things I would have done differently. BTW, I say all this without ever having talked to anyone involved in directing or editing the movie, but it is pretty clear to me.
With the bad out of the way, I am really proud of Chad Mitchell and the stories he told. A lot of the kids were from very troubled backgrounds, and they had to be each other's family, because they had really bad home lives. They truly came together in a "Remember the Titans" way. That is not added to the story artificially.
They did a good job with shooting the big game. Again, it was mostly true to the real game, except the final score was a little more lopsided.
Milo Gibson did a good job, and Lawrence Fishburne did a great job. Fishburne played local BBQ legend Harold, and yes, he would randomly burst into song, whether in the kitchen or in the dining room. You can find it pretty easily on YouTube. Unfortunately, Fishburne was so magnetic, it kind of highlighted the lack of acting chops on some of the kids.
So, if you like football, Texas, high school kids overcoming obstacles, or all the above, I think you will enjoy this movie. As I said, it is a story that needs to be told.
Truly inspiring!
sernanakye20 June 2021
It's ok, but could be better
brianokeeffe10 June 2021
Ok, so let me start off by saying that I live in Abilene Tx where this was shot. I went to the same High School and I remember this football season. I enjoyed watching the movie for that exact reason. They made our city look like an inner city, which it isn't. It's a pretty nice city, but kids can get mixed up in drugs and gangs like any other city. This city doesn't chew you up and spit you back out. It was interesting to see what these kids went through though and the hardships they overcame. That win was amazing for those boys and this entire city. I'm not sure if anyone outside our city would enjoy this movie, its not as great as Remember The Titans, but it might be a good rental for a boring night.
Friday Night Flop
randmishvidez24 April 2024
This "movie" is really bad, it had potential but failed to deliver. For starters this movie would have been a lot better if they would have filmed the football scenes themselves, even if it was just going to an actual Abilene High game and getting some real footage with the actors on the sideline. They didn't do that though, they used the actual game highlights from the 2009 season that AISD recorded from the press box to show on the local news after the game. Didn't work at all.
If they would have done that, they could have cut a lot of the cringe story line that was nothing short of hard to watch. Like the kid crying about how good of a man his grandfather was that just died, the gang scenes and all the scenes with his brother weighing out drugs and trying to pressure him into joining a gang.. all that was cringe, they didn't have the actors or the story line for as much drama as they tried to put into this movie. Should of tried harder to keep it more about football and less about the streets.
Somehow they got Laurence Fishburne and Milo Gibson to make this film, how I don't know, only reason I gave 10 stars is for being able to do that 🤣
If they would have done that, they could have cut a lot of the cringe story line that was nothing short of hard to watch. Like the kid crying about how good of a man his grandfather was that just died, the gang scenes and all the scenes with his brother weighing out drugs and trying to pressure him into joining a gang.. all that was cringe, they didn't have the actors or the story line for as much drama as they tried to put into this movie. Should of tried harder to keep it more about football and less about the streets.
Somehow they got Laurence Fishburne and Milo Gibson to make this film, how I don't know, only reason I gave 10 stars is for being able to do that 🤣
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