On the very first day of pre-season practice, Coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) tells his team, the Permian High Panthers of Odessa, Texas, that he expects them to be perfect. By the end of the season, in that last half-time locker room pep talk, he tells them what that means. Being perfect does not mean winning every play or making no mistakes. He wants them to go back onto the field knowing that they did everything they could have done, with “clear eyes, love in your heart, joy in your heart.”

By those terms, this film is perfect. Director/co-screenwriter Peter Berg, cousin of the author of the original book on this real-life story of one team’s 1988 season, has done everything he could have done, with clear eyes and love and joy in his heart. He has produced a movie that has both immediacy and resonance, filled with moments of authenticity and insight. It has an intentionally rough, gritty, bleached, documentary feel but Berg is in complete control, with every shot a small gem of precision and mastery.

As the movie begins, we see an almost-endless expanse of flat, brown, dusty, dried-out land and exhausted and abandoned oil rigs surrounding an impeccable rectangle of green surrounded by rows of seats. It is the high school football stadium (the real-life Permian facility). At once we see that all that is fresh and green — and important — in the town is the high school football team. We see a mother grilling her son, not on SAT vocabulary words, but on football strategy. A caller on the radio explains why the coach gets paid more than the principal — “The principal don’t get 28,000 people” to come to the school.

There are two kinds of time in the town. There are games, and there is everything else.

And there are three kinds of people in the town. First are those who are on the team now, the 17-year-olds who never have to pay for their own meals or do their own homework. Parents ask them to pose for pictures holding their babies and journalists grill them. One play can make you an instant hero — but “Odessa’s a small town, and when you screw up everyone knows.”

Then there are those who once played on the team, many of them still sporting the rings they got for winning the state championship, the rest wishing they did. And there are those who have never played but still care passionately about the team, interrupting the coach at whatever he is doing to give him their strategy for winning the state title. A fan brags about his cat named Panther and dog named Mojo (the team’s nickname). Every store in Odessa has its own specially printed “Gone to the Game” sign when it closes for football.

Within a very traditional sports movie structure, taking us through one season from the first day of practice to the championship game, Berg assembles a mosaic of gem-like moments that illuminate a much bigger picture. Like all truly great sports stories, it is about dreams, competition, families, tragedy, and triumph, about the individual and about the team. And because it is set in America, it is also about poverty, race, and class. Most of all, though, it is about characters we feel we know and care about.

Derek Luke (of Antwone Fisher and Pieces of April) is dazzling as Boobie Miles, the star player who juggles calls from college recruiters and keeps Mercedes brochures in his locker. Country singer Tim McGraw is heartbreaking as the former Panther whose life has been a disappointment since his team won State. He hopes to recapture the glory through his son but has no idea how to reach him except through insults and abuse. Lucas Black is touching as the player who is trying to care for a sick mother and “protect the town” by winning the title.

Thornton, as always easy to underappreciate because of the subtlety and natural honesty of his performances, shows us the coach’s love for the game and for the boys on the team. As he calls out, “Was that a knee?” when a player goes down or when town leaders suggest that if he does not win State he might lose his job,” we see what he is thinking and even everything that has brought him to this moment.

This is not a football movie — it is a rich and meaningful story about people who play football and the people who watch them, with respectful and poignant insights, beautiful performances, and sensitive treatment of issues that touch us all.

Parents should know that the movie has some tense family scenes with an abusive father. Underage characters drink and a character abuses alcohol. There are references to “getting laid.” The football scenes are powerfully staged and very intense. Audience members may almost feel that they are the ones getting tackled. The movie is frank in its treatment of injuries, some graphic.

Families who see this film should talk about what it feels like for these 17-year-old boys to carry so much of their family’s and the town’s sense of pride. What is the good about that? What is bad? Why would a girl say she only wanted to be “with a ball carrier?” Why was it so important to Don’s father that he succeed? Why did he define success the way he did? Did his team’s championship “carry him forever?” How do parents help their children learn what success means? If it is not football that defines success in your community, what does? What does the coach mean when he says that “all of us dig our own holes?” What is the difference between winning and losing? What would a movie about the Dallas team be like?

Families who appreciate this movie will also appreciate Hoosiers, the true story of a small-town basketball team that competed for the state championship, Remember the Titans about the first integrated football team in an Alexandria, Virginia high school, The Slaughter Rule, with the gifted Ryan Gosling as a high school senior who plays quarterback for a six-man league, All the Right Moves with Tom Cruise, and Go Tigers!, a documentary about a high school football team in Massillon, Ohio.

They might also like to read the poem by James Wright, “Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio,” which describes boys playing football:

Their sons grow suicidally beautiful

At the beginning of October,

And gallop terribly against each other’s bodies.

Squeaky-clean Hilary Duff’s latest movie plays like a cross between a Disney-fied music video and a script developed by girls playing with Barbies. So, it will please its target audience of tween girls while leaving parents relieved, if not entertained.

Duff plays 16-year-old Terri, a good girl whose loving older brother Paul (Jason Ritter) tells her not to be such a pleaser. He wants her to fight back when their over-protective father (David Keith) won’t let her go to the summer music program of her dreams. Even though Paul is grounded, he and Terri sneak out to go to a rock concert. On the way home, their car is hit by a drunk driver, and Paul is killed. Terri’s father becomes even more strict. When she is accepted into the program her mother (Rita Wilson) and aunt (Rebecca De Mornay) conspire to find a way for her enroll. Her father thinks she is visiting her aunt.

The program is more challenging than Terri could have imagined, filled with highly focused and very talented kids. But she makes some friends, especially a handsome composer (Oliver James, essentially reprising his perfect boyfriend with an English accent role from What a Girl Wants) and her violinist roommate, Denise (Dana Davis). It is a competitive group, especially when it comes to who gets the solo in the big choral performance and who will win that $10,000 scholarship at the end of the summer.

Duff has more hairdos than facial expressions, but the movie is designed around the one she has down pat, a sort of sweet, slightly abashed, “Gosh, can I really do this? Look how adorable it is that I don’t know I’m adorable” sort of look. It does not go well when she tries to go beyond her range, as when she has to learn that her brother has died or confront someone she thinks has betrayed her, and especially in one painful moment when she tries to act “street.” Similarly, the music is designed around her slight but sweet pop voice. If the studio-enhanced dubbing is a bit too obvious in the classroom scenes, it fits with the bubble-gumminess of the tunes and the story.

Parents should know that the movie includes the death of a major character in a drunk driving accident. This is powerfully, but not graphically depicted and may make the movie too much for under-10’s or even some sensitive under-12’s. An adult character responds to a stressful situation by saying, “I need a drink” and an underage character gets drunk when he is upset over a misunderstanding. There is some PG-level language. The movie makes it clear that Terri thinks carefully about whether she is ready to kiss a boy, even though it is someone she really cares about. Another girl makes a reference to being “bad” to get the boy she likes, but it does not work. Other strengths of the movie include loyalty and friendship among diverse characters and (very unusual in a mainstream film) respectful treatment of religious faith. It has a rare depiction of a young person going to church to get help during a painful time, handled in a low-key manner but making it clear that Terri’s faith is an important source of solace for her.

Families who see this movie should talk about why Terri’s father is so strict. Why was it easier for Paul to speak up than for Terri? What should Terri have done when her mother and aunt told her to lie to her father about where she was? What did Terri like best about the music program? How did her brother and her teacher give her a chance to see things within herself that she did not see before? Why didn’t Jay like Robin anymore?

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy Duff’s other films, The Lizzie McGuire Movie and A Cinderella Story. They might also enjoy comparing them to the original Gidget. Mature audiences will enjoy Fame a lively film about a high school for the performing arts.

Chicago lawyer John Clark (Richard Gere) writes wills. He listens to people sum up their lives — their assets, their liabilities, their legacies. When it’s done, they ask, “Is that it, then?” and he tells them, “That’s it for the paperwork. The rest is up to you.” Finally, it is time for him to get that message.

John likes his job and he loves his wife, son, and daughter. But riding home on the El train, he sees a woman standing in the second-story window of a ballroom dance studio and her expression of sadness and longing as she gazes into the darkness somehow unleashes his own wish for something more. Maybe it is his wish to be something more. So one night, he walks into the dance studio and signs up for the beginners class.

There are two other students, Vern, a huge, shy man (Omar Benson Miller) who says he wants to dance at his upcoming wedding, and Chic (Bobby Cannavale of The Station Agent), who says he is there to learn to dance so he can impress girls. Really, though, they are all there because they want to dance, to be a part of the music, to let go and swirl across the floor.

John begins to see himself differently when he finds a way to move to music. His wife suspects an affair and hires a pair of detectives (Richard Jenkins of “Six Feet Under” and Nick Cannon from Drumline, both wonderful) to follow him. Though John is drawn to the melancholy dance teacher it is more out of curiousity and compassion than romance. Dancing leads him to become friends with Vern, Chic, and with Bobbie (Lisa Ann Walter), a brassy student who hopes to compete for a title. He finds an unexpected connection with a colleague from the office and with his own family. And if he can learn to share this precious new part of himself with his wife, well, as the title song (from The King and I) asks, shall they dance?

The movie not only shows you the longing felt by its characters, it draws you in to sharing those feelings with them. You want John, Vern, Chic, Bobbie, and the others to find their steps and rhythm, to fly on the “bright cloud of music,” the song describes. You may even want to find your own.

Lopez gives a performance of great delicacy and skill, showing us Paulina’s fragility and dignity. Each actor creates a real and vivid and endearing character. And the music and dancing are sublime. You may just do a little dancing of your own on your way home.

Parents should know that the movie has brief strong language and some unnecessary homophobic humor, particularly a gratuitous last-minute twist. There are sexual references and jokes, including references to adultery, but in general the characters’ behavior is loyal and respectful. Characters drink and there are scenes in bars.

Families who see this movie should talk about why it was had for John and Beverly to be honest with each other. What was John missing? Which characters changed the most, and why? What could you do that would change your life the way dancing changed the lives of John, Vern, and Chic?

Families who enjoy this movie will also appreciate the many other delightful movies about the way dance changes people’s lives. Some of the best are Strictly Ballroom, Dirty Dancing, Saturday Night Fever, The Full Monty, and Steppin’ Out with Liza Minnelli along with Fred Astaire classics like The Bandwagon (briefly glimpsed in this movie). They should also watch the movie this was based on, a lovely 1994 Japanese film also called Shall We Dance.

Children 18 months to three years old will enjoy this gentle DVD, filled with happy children learning colors, numbers, letters, and just enjoying each other. Babies and toddlers will be drawn into the fun, calling out the answers and playing along, learning as they watch.

This hip-hop/mob action comedy set undersea is fast, fresh, fun, and finny — I mean –punny — I mean funny.

Okay, you watch the movie and see if you don’t come out making silly jokes like that. This isn’t a classic like Finding Nemo or Shrek, but it throws so much at you so fast you will be too busy enjoying yourself to notice.

Oscar (voice of Will Smith) is a little fish who dreams of fame and fortune, which seem very far away while he works as a mouth scrubber in a whale wash. He doesn’t notice that Angie (voice of Renee Zellwegger), the pretty receptionist, is in love with him. And he hasn’t been keeping count of all the money he has borrowed from his blowfish boss, Sykes (voice of Martin Scorsese). When Sykes says he needs the $5000 Oscar owes him the next day, Angie gives him her family heirloom pink pearl. Oscar sells it but then, on the way to give it to Sykes at the racetrack, he bets it on a horse. (That’s a seahorse, by the way.) The horse loses.

So, Oscar is in a lot of trouble. Sykes’ Rasta-jellyfish henchmen (voices of actor Doug E. Doug and regge singer Ziggy Marley) take Oscar out to rough him up.

They come across two sharks, tough guy Frankie (voice of “Soprano’s” star Michael Imperioli and his sweet-natured vegetarian brother Lenny (voice of Jack Black). Frankie is supposed to show Lenny how to be a killer, so they can take over the family business from their father, Don Lino (voice of Robert De Niro in full-on Godfather mode). But when Frankie is hit by an anchor, the jellyfish think that Oscar killed him, and he returns home as “The Shark Slayer.” Fame and fortune at last.

Sykes becomes his manager, a flirty glamorpuss named Lola (voice of Angelina Jolie) shows up to share the wealth (literally). Oscar enjoys the high life until the sharks come searching for the “Shark Slayer.” Lenny runs away from home because he cannot be a predator like his father and the other sharks. He and Oscar come up with a scheme to solve both their problems — they will stage a fight. Oscar will pretend to kill Lenny. Then the sharks will be so scared of Oscar they won’t try to come after him. And Lenny can start a new life.

That’s the plan. But it’s not a very good plan, as Lenny and Oscar soon find out.

The plot is nothing special, but the visuals are, with eye-popping color and wonderfully expressive fish faces, hilariously funny and surprisingly touching. The voice talent is top-notch and the animators have managed to bring the essence of the actors to the characters. Don Lido has De Niro’s birthmark on his cheek and Oscar has Smith’s eyes and mouth. There are dozens of gags and pop-cultural references and some bright musical numbers that keep things moving briskly, with a remake of the Rose Royce “Car Wash” song by Missy Elliott and Christina Aguilerra a highlight.

Parents should know that the plot involves the death of one of the characters, the son and brother of two other characters. This may be upsetting to some viewers. The characters are all so vivid that there may be a Bambi-reaction; some viewers may want to become vegetarians like Lenny. There is also some mild peril and tension. In addition, the movie has some mildly crude humor and a bit of schoolyard language. Characters “tag” — spraypaint graffiti — and parents may want to talk about how that behavior is destructive vandalism and illegal.

Parents may also be concerned about what could be perceived as stereotyping of Italian characters as gangsters, because the character names are Italian and some of the actors who play them are associated with “The Godfather,” “Goodfellas” and “The Sopranos.” Children may not understand that these actors are spoofing their other roles and may get the wrong impression, even concluding that an Italian name or accent is an indication of a connection to the mob. Families should discuss the issue of bigotry and the importance of judging people on their actions, not their heritage.

Families who see this movie should talk about why fame and fortune were so important to Oscar. Why was it so hard for him to realize that Lola was not sincere? They should also talk about why it was so hard for Oscar to see how Angie felt about him — and how he felt about her. All probably came from his having a hard time feeling good about himself — why was that hard for him? Families should also talk about how sometimes people like Lenny can have a hard time feeling accepted and loved for who they are. What can friends and family do to support them?

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy Finding Nemo and A Bug’s Life. They might also like to visit the local aquarium or travel to some of the nation’s best, like Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium and the National Aquarium in Baltimore.