'3BlackChicks Review...'
REMEMBER THE TITANS (2000) Rated PG; running time 113 minutes Genre:Drama IMDB site: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0210945 Official site: <http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/rememberthetitans/> Written by: Gregory Allen Howard Directed by: Boaz Yakin Cast: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst, Donald Adeosun Faison, Ethan Suplee, Hayden Panettiere, Catherine Bosworth, Jerry Brandt, Craig Kirkwood, Rice Brett, Neal Ghant, Ryan Gosling, Stuart Greer, Earl Poitier, David Jefferson, Burgess Jenkins, Lucinda Jenney, Kip Pardue, Krystin Leigh Jones, Nicole Ari Parker, Brett Rice, Ethan Suplee, John Michael Weatherly, Scott Miles, Gregory Alan Williams
Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 Review URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/bamsremember.html
It has been said that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Just as surely, one also shouldn't judge a movie by its trailer - not always, anyway. If I had left it up to the trailer for REMEMBER THE TITANS - or more precisely, on the sheer number of times I'd seen the same daggone trailer before the movie was released - I might have decided not to go see this film.
And would have missed the best movie I've seen all year.
The Story (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**): Virginia, 1971, was not very far from Boston, race relations-wise. Desegregation and forced busing made many Whites upset, and displaced long-time winning White high school football Coach Yoast (Will Patton) from his job, when what originally started out as an assistant coach position under Yoast for Black football Coach Boone (Denzel Washington), turned out just the opposite: Boone was to take over as head coach for the newly-integrated Titans football team.
That team, being a microcosm of the society around it, would need to do more than just be physically combined to be truly integrated; Yoast was somewhat hesitant at first to be assistant coach under a person with less experience than him, but the surrounding neighborhood, parents, students, and others, made it clear in no uncertain terms that Boone, and "his people", were unwanted there. Boone, however, had other plans: plans which included making the young Black and White athletes truly come together as a unit, by putting them through bootcamp-type training, enforced interracial socialization, and lots of hard work. And maybe, just maybe, the Titans - the student players as well as the ill-at-ease coaching staff - could pull a victory or two out of their collective hats, in spite of themselves.
The Upshot: About the only thing Keanu Reeves' THE REPLACEMENTS had in common was REMEMBER THE TITANS was that they were both football flicks; the similarities end there, for "Titans" was everything "Replacements" was not. But I didn't come here to rip on The Whoa Dude; I came in praise of Denzel Washington, a bunch of young actors (the names of whom, unfortunately, I do not know; my apologies), and most surprisingly, two young girls who acted their cute little butts off.
That Denzel would Give Good Show is almost a no-brainer; with the exception of a few miscues early on (CARBON COPY, anyone?), Washington's career has been filled with solid, and sometimes awe-inspiring, performances. His Coach Boone is no exception; funny at times (the "offsides" bit near the end had me crackin' up) and almost always intense, I would be very surprised if Washington didn't receive an Oscar nod for this performance.
The actors making up the Titans team were also very good, though alas too numerous to name (and get right) in this small space. Standouts were Ryan Hurst as team captain Gary "Jerry" Bertier, one of the first White players to See The Light; Wood Harris as "Big Ju", one of the first Black players to also be thus enlightened; Donald Adeosun Faison as Petey, the "football's zero fun" character from the trailer (and even though I'd seen that specific scene so many times, it was still funny in its context), and Ethan Suplee as Louie Lastik, the big loveable lug - both actors playing Funny without going overboard and playing The Clown. Along with the soft-spoken Will Patton as the go-along-to-get-along Coach Yoast, these actors came together in a way that made the cheering audience I was in, really believe they became a cohesive team.
But the shocker for me came with the interplay of Hayden Panettiere as Sheryl Yoast (Coach Yoast's daughter) and Krystin Leigh Jones as Nikki Boone (Coach Boone's daughter). Typically, the Cute factor in young actors would be turned up to epic proportions in these types of Conquering Heroes flicks, but not so here; indeed, they sparkled in their scenes together, and were funny and heart-warming without being overly smarmy (and Panettiere should get special recognition for matching Washington in intensity. She was out there!). Young actors like these may not be everyone's cup o' tea within sports movies, but I very much enjoyed them.
REMEMBER THE TITANS makes no apologies for its Feel Good bent. The music was obviously picked for its Inspirational value, and the mending of racial fences might've come across as too trite in a lesser movie; certainly, it takes more than a good round of The Dozens to Bring People Together As Brothers, though I can believe that the more sports-minded neighbors might not let a little thing like their racist tendencies, get in the way of Some Football! from their winning coach-neighbor. Yes, this was a Feel Good setup from jump. But hey, ain't nuttin' wrong with Feelin' Good. Go see it, and get some Feel Good of your own.
The "Black Factor" [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith]: It's easy to pick the overt, cross-burning, white-sheet-wearing, racists out of a crowd, point at them, and assure the viewing audience that Yes, Those People Are Racists. Much harder, I think, to see the not-so-obvious, and deal with it. Much harder, I think, to see that racism doesn't just wear a White face, and isn't always a one-way street. Much harder, I think, to admit that racism will ALWAYS be there until the mindset that creates an US versus a THEM, begins to be erased by creating a WE. REMEMBER THE TITANS looked at the WE for a time, in a way that's not often shown in mainstream flicks; here's hoping that other movies will pick up where it left off.
Bammer's Bottom Line: For a PG-rated Disney flick, REMEMBER THE TITANS did a decent job of addressing The Race Issue; it did lay it on too thick at times, and not thick *enough* at others. I've seen better attempts, but I've also seen much worse; and at least it pinned the tail right on The Major Cause of racial hatred: ignorance. Think on that. And while you're thinking, go see this movie. It'll make you Feel Good.
REMEMBER THE TITANS (rating: greenlight): A field goal, a touchdown, and the extra point; REMEMBER THE TITANS is the best movie I've seen all year. And yes, I cried; hey, if Bryant Gumble can cry over this flick, I can too.
Rose "Bams" Cooper /~\ Webchick and Editor, /','\ 3BlackChicks Review /','`'\ Movie Reviews With Flava! /',',','/`, Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 `~-._'c / EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com `\ ( http://www.3blackchicks.com/ /====\
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