MovieFreak.Com - Remember The Titans Review

MOVIE REVIEW

Remember The Titans (2000)

Starring: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst
Director: Boaz Yakin
Rating: PG

Studio: Touchstone Picture

Review Posted: 10.11.00

Remember The Titans, directed by Boaz Yakin, features Denzel Washington in the lead and Will Patton in a supporting role. The movie, based on a true story and penned by Gregory Allen Howard, follows the integration of an all blacks school into an all white school.

Set in a small Virginia town around 1971, football there is a big part of a high school student's life. The team, coached by Bill Yoast (Will Patton), becomes integrated as well. This is where the complications start. The white players are reluctant to play with the black players as a team. Herman Boone (Denzel Washington), a strict coach who loves the game, replaces Yoast as head coach.

Boone believes in team play. During the summer training camp, he teaches the players how to play but also how to bond; become friends. When school starts, the season starts. With an all-new team in place, Boone and Yoast team up to make the team better than ever.

Helping out the team is Yoast's eight-year-old daughter Sheryl (Hayden Panettiere). For an 8-year old she seemed way too serious. For example, she offers advice and points out criticism, but all the while it shows how over-played the character is (personally, I could not stand her).

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and star Denzel Washington took a pay cut to get Remember The Titans developed at Disney's Touchstone Pictures. Its $10 million budget proved that good movies don't need a big budget. Positive reviews from critics around the country and the star power Remember The Titans opened with $21 million at number one at the box office last week (Sep 29-Oct 1).

From great acting to fine directing, Remember The Titans had it all. Denzel Washington delivered a perfect performance, but not one that would earn him an Oscar nomination. His character was very strict to the players, almost treating them like Marines.

Boaz Yakin, who previously directed A Price Above Rubies and Fresh, successfully created ways to make football look exciting on screen. However, the script would not have suffered from another rewrite because there are some minor glitches in the script's structure.

Remember The Titans suffered from a slow pace, a few boring scenes, and several cheesy moments dealing with team spirit and conquering racism. Most notably was actress Hayden Panettiere. Even though she delivered a good performance, one can only snicker whenever she bursted out her criticism. Despite a few unsettling moments, Remember The Titans came on strong to be this fall's second best feel-good movie (Almost Famous being number one). It succeeded in creating tears and encouraging the audience to stand up and cheer at the end of it.

Film Rating: 7/10

TOP