Remember The Titans
Sports movies aren't exactly known for their in-depth exploration of important social issues. Does Remember The Titans, a drama about the first racially integrated high school football team, buck that trend? Having Denzel Washington (He Got Game, Malcolm X) in the lead role is promising; having producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Gone In Sixty Seconds) on board isn't. So what's the verdict?
Set in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1971, Remember The Titans follows the local high school team as it undergoes a court-ordered integration. Bill Yoast (Will Patton) is the team's coach and is awaiting induction into the Hall of Fame. But he's also white, which causes him to fall victim to some politics and lose his head coaching job to Herman Boone (Denzel Washington). Boone wisely convinces Yoast to join his staff as an assistant, the first step in the team's racial healing process.
To help get his players ready for the season, Coach Boone has them scurried away to a private facility where they can get in shape and learn about one another. Sure enough, the team begins to overcome its racial differences, and when they arrive back to town, they're a unified whole.
But not so fast. Once home, they have to deal with a still-divided town and school, racist parents, conniving referees and hateful opponents. But led by Coaches Yoast and Boone, they overcome these obstacles and win game after game. Can they complete their undefeated season and win the state championship?
Remember The Titans is slick, albeit entertaining, Hollywoodized fare. For one, the smoothing over of racial tension is done in a too-quick, largely unbelievable fashion. For another, the screenplay marches out one obstacle after another for the team to overcome (prejudice within, prejudice from the town/school, the last-minute life-threatening injury) in a blatant attempt to raise the tension. With a great, true story like this, why do people feel the need to make things artificial?
Director Boaz Yakin, who made his debut in 1994 with the highly original urban drama Fresh, doesn't do much noteworthy work here. Yes, he scored a box-office hit, but the word "sellout" comes to mind. Let's hope Yakin uses his newfound clout to make a more innovative work next time around.
That aside, Yakin does draw many outstanding performances from his cast. Denzel Washington is certainly one of the finest actors in the business, and while this isn't his best work, it's still well above average. Patton, who's appeared in some of the most critically reviled films of the last few years (Gone in 60 Seconds, Breakfast Of Champions, Armageddon) DOES do his best work here, making the most of his opportunity with a rock-solid performance. The younger actors are generally good as well.
The film might have earned a higher grade if not for the utterly annoying performance of Hayden Panettiere as Coach Yoast's 9-year-old daughter. Lest you think I'm being too hard on a child actor, let's also give a shout-out to Yakin for allowing Panettiere to be so obnoxious, and screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard for writing idiotic lines that you would never hear a 9-year-old girl (or boy, for that matter) speak.
Don't get me wrong, Remember The Titans is entertaining stuff, and worth a video rental, especially if you're a sports fan. But don't expect a gutsy social commentary: Titans ultimately plays it safe.
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