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Varsity Blues is a 1999 film that follows a small-town high school football team and their focused coach, Jon Voight, through a tumultuous season. The players must deal with the pressures of adolescence and their football obsessed community. In the small town of West Canaan, Texas, football is a way of life, and losing is not an option. When their beloved quarterback, Lance Harbor (played by Paul Walker), is injured during a game, second string Jonathon "Mox" Moxon (played by James Van Der Beek), must step in and prove that he can lead his team to victory. But victory will not be easy for the team as the town worships and fears its legendary football coach almost more than God, who brings a dangerous new meaning to the motto "Win at all costs."
Cast
PlotSpoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The West Canaan High School football program is a very successful one, most notably due to the efforts of its legendary coach Bud Kilmer (Voight), whose philosophy is "win at all costs". One day Kilmer's philosophy finally takes its toll on Coyotes' quarterback Lance Harbor (Walker) as he's sacked on the field. Lance is rushed to the hospital, where doctors are appalled at the massive amount of scar tissue found under his knee, knowing that Lance has been playing hurt for quite awhile. While he's concerned for his son, Lance's father asks when he'll be able to play again. The doctor says he'll be out for the season, if not longer. Backup quarterback Jonathan "Mox" Moxon (Van Der Beek) is angered when at the hospital, Kilmer says nothing about Lance playing hurt to the doctor, though he was present when Lance was receiving steroid shots in his knee from one of the team trainers. In need of a new quarterback, Kilmer names Mox to replace Lance as captain and starting quarterback. The move brings unexpected dividends for Mox, and one of them is Darcy Sears, Lance's girlfriend, who is interested in marrying a football player with a future and a one-way ticket out of West Canaan. When it becomes clear that Lance's career in football is likely over, she sets her sights on Mox, who has set his own sights on Lance's sister Jules.
Fed up with Kilmer, Mox starts calling his own plays on the field without Kilmer's approval. One day he receives a full scholarship in the mail from Brown University. Kilmer, aware of the scholarship, warns Mox that if he doesn't fall in line, he will alter his transcripts in order to reverse the decision on his scholarship. "I get what I want, and you get what you want," Kilmer tells him menacingly. Wendell Brown, a black player, has also expressed dissatisfaction with Kilmer, stating that Kilmer refuses to let him in the endzone because of his color, and thus keeping his potential away from college scouts. Mox assures Brown that he'll "get him in the endzone" in the final game of the season against Gilroy, regardless of what Kilmer says. Though the decision yields Brown a touchdown, the plan backfires when Wendell later injures his knee on the field in the same way that Lance injured his. As Wendell is helped off the field and into the locker room, Mox has an idea of what's about to happen. His fears are confirmed when a trainer tells Kilmer about the damage to Wendell's knee. Kilmer tells the trainer "Make him understand". Mox intervenes at the last minute and tells the trainer, with his syringe poised, not to go near Wendell's knee. Wendell is further reluctant to not get the steroid shot when Lance hobbles into the locker room, warning him not to let Kilmer manipulate him into taking it. Mox tells Kilmer he'll quit the team if the needle enters Wendell's knee. Undaunted, Kilmer orders Charlie Tweeder to take the snaps. Tweeder refuses. Stunned by Tweeder's words, Kilmer realizes that without a quarterback, he will be forced to forfeit. Kilmer loses control and attacks Mox, at one point trying to strangle him. Mox tells Kilmer that the only way they'll return to the field is without him. Knowing his loss of control has cost him his credibility, Kilmer tries in vain to rally support and spark the team's spirit into trusting him, but not one player follows him out of the locker room. Kilmer continues down the locker room hall, and seeing no one following him, turns the other direction and into his office. Mox tells his teammates it's time to play for themselves, and not for Kilmer. The team is motivated by the freedom to win or lose by their own hands. With Lance coaching from the sidelines, the team goes on and wins the Gilroy game in a final score of 20-17. While the radio play-by-play announcers call attention to Kilmer's obvious absence, Kilmer remains in his office, where he is packing his personal belongings, knowing his run is through. In a voice-over epilogue, Mox never played football again. Lance went on to a successful coaching career, Wendell received a scholarship to Grambling, and Kilmer retired, never to coach football again. Spoilers end here.
Filming and reactionThe movie was filmed on location in Georgetown, Texas and even used the local high school's football stadium. However, the University of Toronto sued Paramount Pictures for damaging the reputation of its sports teams, which bear the same name. University officials complained that it presented collegiate sports in a negative light, arguing that the fictional coach was racist, misogynist, and homophobic. The lawsuit ended with Paramount reaching a settlement with the University of Toronto by paying an undisclosed amount to endow eight scholarships for academically accomplished student athletes at the university. In addition, a disclaimer was put on the video and book, indicating that the team depicted is fictional and not based on the University of Toronto Varsity Blues athletic program. Varsity Blues name was trademarked in mid-1980s. Trivia
Awards
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