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Varsity Blues

Play trailer 2:11 Poster for Varsity Blues R Released Jan 15, 1999 1h 44m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
45% Tomatometer 58 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
In West Canaan, Texas, high school football reigns supreme. When starting quarterback Lance Harbor (Paul Walker) turns up injured, the Coyotes' ruthless coach, Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight), must promote benchwarmer Jonathon "Mox" Moxon (James Van Der Beek) to lead the team in its quest for a divisional title. Suddenly thrown into the spotlight, Mox must deal with the pressure of carrying the aspirations of an entire town on his shoulders, as he struggles to pursue his own very different dreams.
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Varsity Blues

Varsity Blues

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Critics Consensus

This is a predictable football movie that lacks intensity.

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Critics Reviews

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Susan Stark Detroit News Rated: 1/4 Oct 19, 2002 Full Review Peter Travers Rolling Stone Rated: 3/5 May 11, 2001 Full Review Mike Musgrove Washington Post It delivers the goods in a fresh manner. Rated: 3.5/5 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Allison Rose FlickDirect Varsity Blues is a fun, teen movie but that is about it. Rated: 3.5/5 Jan 9, 2024 Full Review Douglas Davidson Elements of Madness Now, 25 years later, even when realizing that maybe the heroes of this story shouldn’t have their faults laughed off so much (Tweeder really should be in jail), there’s still a lot of good left. Jan 8, 2024 Full Review Alistair Lawrence Common Sense Media High school football drama has swearing, nudity, sexism. Rated: 3/5 Oct 7, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Matt D Great movie, better on rewatch. It was ok back in the day because we were flooded with HS Movies, but I watched it again recently and it’s gotten better with age. Actors like Scott Caan and JVB make it even better Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/15/24 Full Review Austin M Overall it's a great football movie that captures the essence of highschool football is like a holiday for a small town and what life is like in highschool. Certain characters can be overbearing to watch at some points and the comedy doesn't hit at some points. But the biggest positive out of this movie is that it has a lot of heart. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/14/24 Full Review Nathan W Not the most well acted film but not bad either. It had a good a good story, was well directed and had a lot of heart, all of which made for an enjoyable viewing experience. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/21/24 Full Review Jeff C Such a trash movie...20 minutes into it I already hated Vanderbeek and Voight...characters were so formulaic and they didn't even try to be more. Crazy awful movie! Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 01/08/24 Full Review Chris M Two words, TONE WHIPLASH. It can't make up it's mind if it's a coming of age comedy like "Porky's" or a sports melodrama like "Any Given Sunday". I don't mind a drama to have a sense of humor, in fact I prefer it. But not when the drama comes out of nowhere then stops without warning. Plus the sheriff, the law is afraid of the High School football coach. Which is so insanely stupid it's not even funny. He's the coach, not the mobster. Plus, the father trying to force the child to follow in his footsteps cliché. Plus there is a ton of underage drinking. I know football stars get away with a ton in these spit towns but I think in this movie they would get away with murder. But it is slightly better than "Any Given Sunday". But not by much. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 04/19/23 Full Review Adam P I like this one a lot. The 90s vibes are strong and I'm here for that. The biggest flaw here is that it's too damn melodramatic. There are big issues at play, but most of the time it doesn't feel like it earned the right to address them through the character development. It's still more than decent, just not one that I love. 7.75/10 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Varsity Blues

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Cast & Crew

Varsity Blues

Varsity Blues: Official Clip - Billy Bob's Touchdown Varsity Blues: Official Clip - Billy Bob's Touchdown 2:12 Varsity Blues: Official Clip - The Whipped Cream Bikini Varsity Blues: Official Clip - The Whipped Cream Bikini 2:11 Varsity Blues: Official Clip - No Huddle Offense Varsity Blues: Official Clip - No Huddle Offense 1:42 Varsity Blues: Official Clip - Playing Hungover Varsity Blues: Official Clip - Playing Hungover 2:12 Varsity Blues: Official Clip - Harbor Goes Down Varsity Blues: Official Clip - Harbor Goes Down 2:03 Varsity Blues: Official Clip - One for Wendell Varsity Blues: Official Clip - One for Wendell 2:04 Varsity Blues: Official Clip - Coach Kilmer's Final Game Varsity Blues: Official Clip - Coach Kilmer's Final Game 2:13 Varsity Blues: Official Clip - Beer Can Challenge Varsity Blues: Official Clip - Beer Can Challenge 2:10 Varsity Blues: Official Clip - Second String Varsity Blues: Official Clip - Second String 1:55 View more videos
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Movie Info

Synopsis In West Canaan, Texas, high school football reigns supreme. When starting quarterback Lance Harbor (Paul Walker) turns up injured, the Coyotes' ruthless coach, Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight), must promote benchwarmer Jonathon "Mox" Moxon (James Van Der Beek) to lead the team in its quest for a divisional title. Suddenly thrown into the spotlight, Mox must deal with the pressure of carrying the aspirations of an entire town on his shoulders, as he struggles to pursue his own very different dreams.
Director
Brian Robbins
Producer
Tova Laiter, Brian Robbins, Michael Tollin
Screenwriter
W. Peter Iliff
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Paramount Pictures, Marquee Tollin/Robins, MTV Films
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 15, 1999, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$52.9M
Runtime
1h 44m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby Digital, DTS
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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