| Varsity Blues | |
|---|---|
_poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Brian Robbins |
| Written by | W. Peter Iliff |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Chuck Cohen |
| Edited by | Ned Bastille |
| Music by | Mark Isham |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 106 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $16 million[1] |
| Box office | $54.3 million[1] |
Varsity Blues is a 1999 Americancoming-of-agesportscomedy-drama film directed byBrian Robbins and written byW. Peter Iliff. It starsJames Van Der Beek,Jon Voight,Paul Walker,Ron Lester, andScott Caan. In the film, a small-townhigh schoolfootball team deal with the pressures of adolescence, their football-obsessed community, and their authoritarian coach.
Varsity Blues was theatrically released in the United States on January 15, 1999, byParamount Pictures. The film grossed $54.3 million worldwide against a $16 million budget, but received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its depiction of small-town communities and criticism for its cliches.[1]Varsity Blues has since gone on to become acult film, inspiring other coming-of-age films and thecodename for a2019 criminal investigation into U.S. college admissions.
In the small town of West Canaan, Texas, Jonathan "Mox" Moxon is an academically gifted backupquarterback for the 3A high school Varsity football team, the West Canaan Coyotes. Despite his relative popularity at school, easy friendships with other players, and a relationship with girlfriend Jules Harbor, Mox is dissatisfied with his life. Wanting to leave Texas and attendBrown University, he constantly clashes with his football-obsessed father, Sam. He dreads playing under legendary coach Bud Kilmer, a verbally abusive and domineering authoritarian who believes in winning at all costs.
Kilmer's philosophy finally takes its toll when he pushes the Coyotes' star quarterback, Lance Harbor, Mox's best friend and Jules' older brother, into taking painkilling shots into an injured knee. This leads to Lance injuring the knee further during a game, partly because Kilmer had forced offensive lineman Billy Bob to continue playing despite a concussion. At the hospital, the doctors, appalled at the massive amount ofscar tissue found under his knee, explain that recovery will take at least a year and a half, costing Lance his football scholarship toFlorida State.
Mox, who has accompanied Lance, is shocked when Kilmer denies his role in Lance's injury, even though he ordered the trainer to provide the painkillers. Needing a new quarterback, Kilmer reluctantly names Mox to replace Lance asteam captain and starting quarterback, which brings unexpected dividends for Mox. Wanting to marry someone leaving West Canaan to escape small-town life, Darcy Sears, Lance's cheerleader girlfriend, shows sexual interest in Mox and even attempts toseduce him with awhipped cream "bikini" over her otherwise naked body, but he gently rebuffs her, telling her that she can independently escape West Canaan.
Disgusted with Kilmer and not strongly needing to win, Mox starts calling his own plays on the field without Kilmer's approval and also organizes an all night drinking party with his close friends on the team at a local strip club the night before a game. Fed up with the pressure from Sam, Mox chides him. Sam had been a football player at West Canaan, and although Kilmer dismissed him for lacking talent and courage, Sam still respected and obeyed him. When Kilmer discovers that Mox has won a full academic scholarship to Brown, he threatens to alter Mox's transcripts to endanger his scholarship unless he falls in line.
Kilmer's disregard for the players continues, leading to Billy Bob's dramatic mental collapse. When star running back Wendell Brown, another friend of Mox's, is injured in the district title game, Kilmer persuades him to take a shot of cortisone to deaden the pain in his knee, allowing Wendell to continue at risk of more serious, and perhaps even permanent, injury. Desperate to be recruited by a good college, Wendell almost consents when Mox intervenes and tells Kilmer he will quit if the procedure continues. Undaunted, Kilmer orders wide receiver Charlie Tweeder, a friend of both Mox and Wendell, to replace Mox, but Tweeder refuses. Mox tells Kilmer that the team will only return to the field without him.
Realizing that he will be forced to forfeit the game, an angered Kilmer physically assaults Mox, but the other players intercede and then refuse to take to the field. Knowing his outburst has cost him his credibility, Kilmer tries unsuccessfully to rally support and spark the team's trust in him, but none of the players follow him out of the locker room. Kilmer retreats alone to his office in defeat, abandoning the team to their fate. Using a five-receiver offense in the second half, the Coyotes proceed to win the game and the district championship without Kilmer's guidance, owing to Lance calling the plays from the sideline, and Billy Bob scoring the game-winning touchdown on ahook-and-ladder play.
In a voice-overepilogue, Mox recounts several characters' aftermaths: Kilmer left town and never coached again, but his statue remained due to its weight; after the game, Tweeder drank beer and Billy Bob cried in celebration; Lance became a successful football coach, Wendell received a football scholarship toGrambling State University, and Mox went on to attend Brown on an academic scholarship.
Varsity Blues opened at #1 at the North American box office makingUS$17.5 million in its opening weekend.[2] Though it had a 39.6% decline in earnings, it was still enough to keep it at the top spot for another week.[3]
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has a 46% approval rating based on reviews from 57 critics, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's consensus states, "This is a predictable football movie that lacks intensity."[4] OnMetacritic, it has a score of 50 out of 100 based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[5] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average rating of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[6]
Roger Ebert noted in hisChicago Sun-Times review that, "Scenes work, but they don't pile up and build momentum."[7]ReelViews online film criticJames Berardinelli's summary was that although it "takes a worthwhile detour or two, it ultimately finds its way back to the well-worn track of its genre."[8]Owen Gleiberman ofEntertainment Weekly also gave a positive review, remarking that while the film "has its shallow gags and cliché characters…it also creates a vivid portrait of a small-town community in the grip of an obsession".[9]
| Varsity Blues: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by various artists | |
| Released | January 12, 1999 |
| Genre | Heavy metal,post-grunge,alternative rock,pop rock |
| Label | Hollywood Records |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [10] |
Hollywood Records released the soundtrack on January 12, 1999.[10]
The film was laterparodied in the 2001 filmNot Another Teen Movie.Ron Lester reprised his role of Billy Bob by playing a nearly identical character named Reggie Ray, while Ali Larter's whipped cream bikini scene was parodied.[14] Larter liked the "shock value" of the scene which was her first during the film's production in her first movie role.[15] The film was also quoted in the 2004 filmMean Girls as being Regina George's favorite movie.[citation needed]
In January 2002,Nelvana andMTV announced that they would co-produce a television series based on the film. Screenwriter Peter Iliff and producer Tova Leiter signed on to produce the series. The cast included Sean Dwyer as Stick and Charlie Talbert as Billy Bob,[16] but the project was ultimately scrapped.
Thering name of professional wrestlerJon Moxley stems from mishearing the name of the film's protagonist, Jonathan Moxon, with both also going by the nickname "Mox".[17] Moxley said in February 2020, "I'd probably been thinking about names for years and years, but I had no ideas. So, right before I'm about to go out [for my debut match] the ring announcer said, 'What's the name?' I didn't have one. This other wrestler guy was just like, 'It's like theVarsity Blues guy. He's like the guy fromVarsity Blues. Jonathan Moxley.' They're like, 'That's cool.' I was too nervous to say yes or no. Actually, in the movie, it's Moxon. So the guy screwed up the name a little bit."[17]
In December 2024, Van Der Beek announced the sale of autographed jerseys to support hiscolorectal cancer treatments while celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the film's release.[18]
