Review of Remember the Titans (2000) by Julie R — 31 Mar 2012

When I think of football movies this is the second one that comes to mind (after Rudy.) Yes, despite the racial issues that this movie tries to address, I still consider it a football movie first and foremost. Now I don't mean to belittle the anti-racism message, but I think every sports movie needs some type of adversity in the locker room to overcome, and racism just happened to be the issue that plagued this team. I love the fact that this was based on a true story, and that this high school team was so memorable to the locals that they still talked about it decades later.

The casting was good, particularly with Denzel Washington and Will Patton. They played the subtle hostility gradually sliding into mutual respect perfectly. The teen actors were also well cast. Most of them were believable as football players and seemed to fit the character of the player they were portraying. You could tell they spent some time training these kids to understand football and how they might act playing their respective positions. The addition of the young Sharon as Coach Yoast's conscience was also a good choice. While it seemed a bit forced at times it gave a voice to what might have been going through the coach's mind.

The football action, while cut down to a lot of Hollywood-style shots, did come across as believable. The biggest problem with the movie is how they Disney-fied the whole thing. They exaggerated character traits to silly extremes, and they lined up events to maximize emotional effect. This isn't a crime, but it all comes across as a little unbelievable which is a shame when the movie is based on a true story. Still these tricks have become commonplace in Disney films for a reason, because they work. In the end this ends up being a very entertaining football movie, that I like a lot.