You may "Remember the Titans," yourself, in this true story of the football coach who led a racially divided high school team to victory in the racially divided Southern town of Alexandria, Virginia in 1971.
Herman Boone (Denzel Washington), is hired to coach the T.C. Williams Titans, a powerhouse team in high school football ranks. However, his hiring displaces longtime white coach Bill Yoast (William Patton). As if this isn't bad enough, mandated school busing has just been implemented, which really rankles the townsfolk.
Boone, however, welcomes a challenge. This comes by way of an understatement. Determined to make the best of a steadily worsening situation, Boone asks Yoast to stay on as defensive coordinator. And then he has to try to bring some semblance of unity to his contentious racially mixed players.
The team returns to town in one piece after an almost brutal, grueling training camp. But that's not the happy ending. It's just the start. According to reviewers, what could have been an overly sentimental and predictable story from here on out as Boone gains respect, is not. In the hands of director Boaz Yakin, along with the acting of Washington and Patton, the movie avoids racial cliches and is genuinely moving.
According to one critic, "the film has real heart and reminds you of how much goodness there is in people." The same critic says Yakin has redeemed himself from two earlier films this year, a "dreadful duo" — "Coyote Ugly" and "Gone in Sixty Seconds"– neither of which earned rave reviews. The movie is rated PG for thematic elements and some language.
It starts Thursday at Market Square East.
VI Source Archive · 1998–2015