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Moviefone Can you tell our readers what your book is about?

Buzz Bissinger The book chronicles the 1988 season of a team in Odessa, Texas, called the Permian Panthers. I left my job at the Philly Inquirer to write a book about the impact of high school football on a small town in Texas with the hope that it was a book about the spirit of every small town in America. Whether it's basketball in Indiana or hockey in Minnesota, high school sports keeps these small, forgotten places in America alive.

MF What did you think of the film?

BB I think it is a terrific movie, and it captures the the essence of what these kids sacrificed. This movie, just like the book, is gritty; it's authentic, it's muted. There are no scenes of dancing in the street. I don't think there are any cheap Hollwyood emotional compromises.
Peter [Berg] and I are second cousins. I love Pete, but I love my book more. Since it came out in 1990, it has sold more than 750,000 copies. It is a book that is beloved by hundreds of thousands. I'm close to the kids in the book. Like any writer, I was worried that there would be this tendency for the movie to go for easy cheap emotions, to clown it up, to make it like 'Varsity Blues.' Pete has not done that. He made the right creative choices.

MF Your book deals a lot with the racism and misplaced educational priorities of Odessa. Were some of those details sacrificed in the movie?

BB Well, yes, it was sacrificed in the movie. I think if the movie had focused too much on the issues of race or misplaced educational priorities, the movie would become really superficial. A book is more complex, I can spend 20-25 pages about race, a movie can't do that. I understand why the director stayed away from it. You still get a sense of the racism, of how football is the most important part of the school system, but it's not the focus. It's a two-hour film, it should be different from the book. But like the book, the movie's driven by the characters and football and how it influences and affects the town.

MF How much input did you have in the filmmaking process?

BB I wish I could say I'm John Irving, but I'm not. I had no official or contractual input. Pete and I talked a lot, but he had to make the film the way he wanted it. No one put a gun to my head to sell the film rights. We had conversations. I had suggestions, but c'mon, I'm just the writer. But because I'm also the cousin, we did talk. There were some things I felt were very important, and Pete was very responsive. I recently saw it for the second time, and it was a tough crowd of New Yorkers in the audience. It was hard to believe it's a Hollywood football movie. It's definitely not 'Rudy' meets 'Remember the Titans.'

MF Why should your book's fans see the movie?

BB It's a great piece of filmmaking. My word is very important to me, and I wouldn't say this if I didn’t believe it. The spirit is there, and as dark as the book is, it's clear that I love the kids, I have a certain affection for the town. Those games are magical, intoxication, awesome, but there is also something dark about it.

MF On the other hand, why should people who like the movie read the book?

BB I think the reason to read the book is because it's more complex and goes into dimensions of the characters, and the town and an American way of life that a movie can't get into. It's a book where you will fall in love with the characters; you come away with an America that maybe you didn't know existed. It's a book that makes you love these kids. I'm in touch with all these kids. They're actually in their 30s now. They are an essential, integral part of my life. I don't want to sound arrogant, but I've had thousands of people come up to me and say: "It's about my experience, my life in high school." It speaks to people, especially people who grew up in the heartland.

MF Are you welcome in Odessa?

BB Not originally... When the book came out, I was supposed to go to Odessa as part of the book tour, but they were really upset with the portrayal, and the honesty of the book hurt them. I had to cancel my trip because of some threats. On the other hand, no one has found a single fact wrong with the book. I did go back last June. Odessa has changed. It's more enlightened; it's handling academics, race relations. I give Odessa a lot of credit.

MF Reading the book, I had a hard time picturing Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gaines. What do you think of his key performance?

BB Billy Bob's portrait of the coach is wonderfully accurate. Coach Gaines is a man of great honor in an insane storm. The pressure on him was virtually intolerable. He might've had the most difficult coaching job in America at the time. He was a man of universal dignity at all times. Billy Bob captured all of that.

MF And the young actors who portrayed the players?

BB Roles like these don't come a long that much anymore for actors –- especially for young actors. Roles that are real, where they don't have to ham it up, but they really have to act. I was impressed by the performances of all the "players:" Derek Luke, Lucas Black, Garrett Hedlund, Jay Hernandez -- all of them.

MF And what are your favorite sports movies?

BB I love 'Hoosiers,' because I love Gene Hackman's performance so much; it's so understated and perfect. The other sports movie that I loved is 'North Dallas Forty' with Nick Nolte. It's a great, great sports movie that was gritty. It shows that this is what sports is really about sometimes: playing in pain, getting knee injections, being treated like you're a piece of meat.

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