Gary Busey plays a star football player who is in high school...which is pretty odd since he was 29 when the movie was made. In fact, MANY of the players in the film look to be that age...a major problem with an otherwise excellent made for TV movie.
The story is about the senior year of high school quarterback David Lee Birdsong (Busey). He is incredibly successful and things are going very well. He has colleges offering him scholarships and there's every reason to believe he'll soon be off to make himself a bright future. However, he has two things working against him--a win at all cost coach (Larry Hagman) and an unrelenting father (Ben Johnson) for whom David cannot do enough when he plays. Even if his team easily wins and he has a great game, the nitpicking father has lots of criticism. And, late in the film when David Lee crosses his father, the man slaps the crap out of him! So much for love and respect. Unless something changes, David Lee is about ready to crack.
This is a pretty good film about the absurdity of high school sports and the pressure placed on kids. Had the players actually LOOKED like kids, the film would have no doubt been better. Still, it's worth seeing and is reasonably well made and interesting.
