varsity blues

In the opening montage you hear Mox, the main character, talking as you see images of West Canaan, Texas. One of the images is of a referee, the god of the football field, from a very low angle making him seem even more foreboding. In fact, all images of the ref throughout the movie are from low angles. When we first meet Lance, the star quarterback, the camera is at a low angle again. He steps out of his house into the light of the sun while trumpets are sounding, all in slow motion. Later in the movie it is said that Kilmer, the coach, has made Lance a god and the sound, along with the camera work in this moment, accentuates this statement. Varsity Blues is an excellent movie. It has a wonderful use of low angles, montages, slow motion, sound, and color. The way Brian Robbins combined these aspects in each scene, hightens the emotion of the scene. Ultimately I think you're supposed to realize that we put too much pressure on people to be a hero for us, and if they let us down, our whole world can fall apart. We need to learn to stand up for ourselves, instead of waiting for someone to come along and do it for us; otherwise we'll remain followers all our lives.