Denzel Washington's newest film is a rather simple movie, so my review of it is rather simple as well-If you enjoy football, you will enjoy Remember the Titans.
Remember the Titans is a rather typical film with a plot that we've seen before hundreds of times. A team of athletes who don't quite get along come together against all odds under the guidance of one spectacular coach and go on to victory. Sound familiar? The film's formulaic plot does make a few elements seem rather obvious, such as the setback the team must overcome in the last part of the movie (which you should be able to see coming at least ten minutes in advance).
But if you go into a movie like Remember the Titans with high expectations, you should have your head examined. It's a sports movie, for Pete's sake; of course it's going to have a tried and true formula. Simplicity isn't always a bad thing, and here it works. There is just enough suspense built into the plot to engage the viewers, even if you have a pretty good hunch about who's going to win in the end. Besides, we are told in the beginning of the film that this film is based on a true story, so any doubts we might have about how realistic the team's accomplishments are fall by the wayside.
One of the chief reasons that the simple plot of this film works is the engaging nature of the film's secondary plot. You see, the film is set in the early seventies in Virginia, when integration of schools was just beginning. So the team must learn to get along in spite of their vast cultural differences, and a lot of the film deals with the initial reaction of the townspeople to having blacks and whites playing on the same football team for the first time.
Remember the Titans handles these very mature themes of strained race relations with care, never cheapening the subject matter by resorting to movie clichés like the discovery of a burning cross on a character's front lawn. Instead the film focuses in on the prejudice inherent in some of the characters on a more personal level, illustrating the bigotry with a snubbed handshake or a sideways glance rather than with a racial slur.
But perhaps the biggest thing Remember the Titans has on its side is the powerful on-screen presence of Denzel Washington, here playing Coach Boone, the man hired to serve as the new head coach for the integrated Titans football team. Washington has always been a tremendous actor, almost incapable of making a bad film, and his performance in this film is no different. In many scenes he practically carries the movie on pure talent alone. He characterizes Coach Boone as a tough man, willing to put his players through anything to make them winners. But it is obvious too that he cares a great deal for his players, even though he would never let that be known to them on the field.
Washington plays Boone as a man who wants to take advantage of his position to bring the town together across the racial divide. He also clearly feels the weight of his job and the way the town views him heavy upon him. He is told early on in the film that if he loses a single game, he will be fired, thus filling every game with anxiety and anticipation, not only for Boone but also for those of us watching the film as well.
Washington also has a good supporting cast to back him up. The football players are portrayed with such youthful enthusiasm that they infuse the film with a lightheartedness that really grips the audience. Films that deal with such mature ideas as racism occasionally become mired in depression, but the main characters of this film, being teenagers, are able to keep things from getting too serious with their fun-loving, thrill-seeking attitudes.
A standout performance comes from Will Patton as Coach Yoast, the former head coach of the football team, who is demoted so that Boone can step in. Patton could play the character as angry and vengeful, but instead he plays him as quiet and accepting. He might not like his fate, or having to work under a black man, but he will take what comes to him with pride. They do clash a little on occasion, but by the end both characters have an incredible mutual respect for each other, so much so that Yoast is willing to give up a chance at returning to his former position when townspeople conspire to get Boone fired.
Remember the Titans is a good, clean film (it's a Disney movie; what'd you expect?) that deals with racism in a serious way without ever losing its sense of humor. The football action will keep you enthralled, while the characters slowly grow to hold a place in your heart. As I said in the beginning, if you enjoy football, you will enjoy this movie. But my bet is that even if you don't enjoy the game, you might soon start to after seeing this movie.
