In small-town Texas, high school football is a religion. The head coach is deified, as long as the team is winning and 17-year-old schoolboys carry the hopes of an entire community onto the gridiron every Friday night. In his 35th year as head coach, Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight) is trying to lead his West Canaan Coyotes to their 23rd division title. When star quarterback Lance Harbor (Paul Walker) suffers an injury, the Coyotes are forced to regroup under the questionable leadership of John Moxon (James Van Der Beek), a second-string quarterback with a slightly irreverent approach to the game. "Varsity Blues" explores our obsession with sports and how teenage athletes respond to the extraordinary pressures places on them. Summary written by Steven Chea {schea@mail.utexas.edu} In the town of West Canaan, Texas, football is a way of life but for Jonathan "Mox" Moxon(James Van Der Beek), he has just about enough of it. Pressured by his father to play since childhood, Mox has barely ever seen some football action being a second string quarterback. But after the first string quarterback Lance Harbor(Paul Walker), is seriously injured, Mox is brought in to finish the season and win Coach Bud Kilmer's(Jon Voight) district championship. Mox begins to realize the toughness and hardship of being a starter, but with tough things comes rewards and to Mox's suprise he finds out that him being starter brings more than he can handle, like popularity, women, etc.

release year: 1999

star(s): Amy Smart    Paul Walker