Varsity Blues simply more of the same

An exceptional athlete struggles with stardom as he tries to maintain 'the right' that his closest friends see in him, and avoid the ever present call of hubris. Seen it before? Maybe just a little.

Those audiences out there masochistic enough to subject themselves yet again to this tired plot line will be sure to find nothing but bliss at the Apollo when Varsity Blues arrives today. Everyone else, steer clear.

The movie is set in a small Texas town, West Canaan, where high school football is a way of life. The importance of the football team is, of course, dependent on their record, and West Canaan has a pretty impressive one. With 22 consecutive division titles, the whole town is slathering over the starting players and their games.

It might sound weird, but Varsity Blues is remarkably similar to Teen Wolf. The main character isn't well-liked at first. In the course of the movie he figures out he wants the woman he has always loved instead of the sexy blonde who's pursuing him. He struggles to play football in his style instead of the way he's told to play. There's even a fat kid that manages to prove himself in the last game.

The acting in the movie is nothing to write home about either. James Van Der Beek, star of Dawson's Creek, is horrible. He couldn't act his way out of a sleazy dress. In fact, none of the acting is worth anything, except for John Voight, who clearly puts his experience to use. Playing assholes is simply something he's good at.

So, bad acting, tired story -maybe the directing's all right? Think again.

MTV isn't poor. They could hire someone with talent ... not this year. Over and over, as in most dramas, the director tries to create moving little scenes between two people. And over and over he falls on his face. Granted, such scenes generally rely on acting, but even the big showdown between Voight and Van Der Beek, in which Voight breaks down, just doesn't ride. Voight just isn't to blame: director Brian Robbins doesn't know how to do his job.

Robbins is clearly playing to the MTV audience. It seems Robbins figures we can all sit back and congratulate ourselves on being "enlightened TV watchers" who can see from our oh-so-objective perspective how trivial high school football really is, and how utterly stupid all those idiots in small town America are for caring so much. Thank you, Mr. Robbins. Thanks for letting us know that small towns across the country are filled with nothing but hicks who deserve to be ridiculed and objectified.

Rating: Standing in front of the Apollo and shooting anyone interested in seeing this movie would be a better use of your time.