Review of Remember the Titans (2000) by Kimberly S — 27 Jul 2012

It took me a long time to get around to seeing this one, as I don't care about sports and I shy away from "it's the feel-good movie of the year!" type-flicks.

Sports movies (like "love stories") have entirely predictable plots and I don't watch movies for plot. I watch for acting, good scripts, and worthy dialogue.

I was surprised at how well-done this movie was. Denzel is excellent, but I expected that. What I didn't expect was a strong, nuanced, self-restrained performance by Will Patton, who's a seriously underrated actor. Patton's been in a dozen movies we've seen, but "Titans" gives us our first glimpse at how good he can be.

So, the acting's good, the script is fun..the dialogue doesn't suck. I'd recommend this movie to my students of American Culture for a taste of the early-seventies integration turmoil that stands at the center of the movie's tension.

I'd subtract a few points on my favorable review to tax the director for taking more than a few liberties with the true story behind the movie in order to inflate the drama.

Otherwise, Titans is my football movie of choice from now, added to Tom's list of watchable sports movies, which also include "The Natural" with Robert Redford, "Bull Durham" with Tim Robbins, "Field of Dreams" with Kevin Costner, and (of course) "Hoosiers" with Gene Hackman.