At this point, 2004’s Friday Night Lights probably stands as the most famous movie about Texas football, though that might stem also from its subsequent success as a TV series. 1999’s Varsity Blues also found a decent audience as well, however.

Jonathan "Mox" Moxon (James Van Der Beek) serves as the backup quarterback for the West Canaan Coyotes high school football team. Though smart and popular, he aspires to life outside of this myopic small-town setting.

Mox’s situation changes when star QB Lance Harbor (Paul Walker) goes out due to injury. Elevated to starter, Mox must now cope with a variety of pressures, not the least of which stem from abusive Coach Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight).

As I recall, I went into Friday Night Lights with skepticism, as I believe I assumed a movie about high school football would probably offer nothing but fluff. To my pleasant surprise, it turned into a solid character drama that worked from start to finish.

This gave me some hope Blues might also deliver something deeper than the teen melodrama I’d expected from Lights. However, this one fails to live up to the highs of its later sibling.

That doesn’t mean the movie flops, but Blues never turns into anything especially engaging. Instead, it fails to find a good balance, as it sputters in terms of tone.

Much of Blues follows the expected character path, as we see Mox’s struggles and evolution. Nothing about these narrative points demonstrates creativity or depth, so Mox remains a predictable and thin role.

None of the supporting parts fare any better. All come across as the clichés they are.

At times, Blues appears to want to spoof the genre, especially the way it mocks the Texas obsession with high school football. For instance, when we first meet Lance, the film basks him in a glow that makes him look like a religious icon.

If Blues opted for a consistent satirical vibe, it might work better. Instead, these moments come and go without much logic.

And then there’s Mox’s oddball younger brother Kyle (Joe Pichler). At times the movie threatens to develop him as a victim of the family’s football obsession, as his dad (Thomas Duffy) continually pressures him to become someone he’s not.

Instead, Blues treats Kyle as nothing more than cheap comic relief. He dabbles in a variety of religions, choices that exist solely so the movie can show him in wacky costumes.

During the film’s commentary, we learn that the original screenplay followed a more consistently wacky teen comedy vibe but director Brian Robbins took it down a more dramatic path. That seems to explain the odd disconnect and inconsistent tone on display.

Nothing about Blues makes it unwatchable, but it also never becomes anything more than the one-dimensional teen multiplex fodder it was. I hoped the film would bring depth and integrity similar to what we got from Friday Night Lights, but this one winds up as a trite journey.

Varsity Blues appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. The movie came with a pretty positive Dolby Vision presentation.

Sharpness largely worked fine. A few slightly soft shots materialized, but the majority of the movie felt accurate and concise.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain seemed natural and I detected no print flaws.

Colors leaned natural and showed appealing tones. While the hues didn’t dazzle, they held up well, and HDR gave them a bit of a boost.

Blacks appeared pretty deep and dense, while low-light shots brought appealing clarity. HDR added punch to whites and contrast. The movie enjoyed a quality reproduction.

The movie’s Dolby TrueHD 5.1 fared better, though it never excelled. Unsurprisingly, football scenes offered the most immersive sequences, though even those failed to provide great engagement.

Music used the channels well, at least, and the film boasted reasonably positive environmental information. Again, the soundscape never dazzled, but it seemed more than satisfactory.

Audio quality also worked fine, with speech that seemed concise and distinctive. Effects showed appealing range and accuracy.

Music brought good dynamics and clarity. This became a perfectly positive mix for a character-based sports movie.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version from 2009? Both came with identical audio.

As for the 4K’s Dolby Vision image, it demonstrated major improvements. The 4K appeared better defined and more natural, with stronger colors and blacks. The 4K acted as a substantial upgrade over the mediocre BD.

No extras appear on the 4K, but we get a few on the included Blu-ray copy, where we find an audio commentary from director Brian Robbins and producers Tova Laiter and Mike Tollin. All three sit together for a running, screen-specific look at story and characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, shooting the football, music, editing and related topics.

Recorded for the movie's 10th anniversary, the track starts slowly. However, it picks up steam before long and becomes a pretty informative and engaging little chat.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we find four featurettes. Football Is a Way of Life goes for 17 minutes, 47 seconds and brings notes from Robbins, Laiter, Tollin, writer Peter Iliff, and actors James Van Der Beek, Jon Voight, Ali Larter, Amy Smart, Paul Walker, Eliel Swinton, and Ron Lester.

We learn about the screenplay, story and characters, Robbins’ approach to the material, cast and performances, and shooting football. While a bit superficial, “Life” nonetheless gives us a pretty decent overview of the production.

Two-A-Days spans seven minutes, 48 seconds. It offers info from Van Der Beek, Walker, Lester, Swinton, football coordinator Mark Ellis, stunts Peter Gardere, and actor Scott Caan.

Here we get more about how they filmed the football sequences. It delivers another fairly useful reel.

Next comes QB Game Analysis. It lasts 15 minutes, 15 seconds and delivers statements from Ellis and quarterback Josh McCown.

They reflect on the evolution of high school football and related elements. It's good to look at the sport and the movie from the POV of an NFL player.

Billy Bob With No Bacon goes for four minutes, 38 seconds. 10 years after the shoot, we see a much slimmer Lester as he reminisces about the shoot along with some soundbites from Voight. We don’t get much substance, though it’s a shame he died in 2016 even after he lost all that weight.

As a look at the Texas high school football culture, Varsity Blues shows promise. Unfortunately, it winds up as a stale and trite melodrama. The 4K UHD comes with good visuals, generally positive audio and a moderate mix of bonus materials. Though not a poor film, Blues never delivers much of real interest.

To rate this film visit the Blu-ray review of VARSITY BLUES