CNN.com - Entertainment - Review: Pass on 'Remember the Titans'

Football as a feel-good experience

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Movie trailer 'Remember the Titans'

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By Paul Tatara
CNN.com Reviewer

(CNN) -- Director Boaz Yakin, whose last movie was a uniquely provocative study of self-determinism called "A Price Above Rubies" (1998), has now graduated to a far more expensive Disney picture titled "Remember the Titans."

Unfortunately, Hollywood is the only place in the world where you can end up looking like you've been put back a grade once you proceed to the next level.

Gregory Allen Howard's broad-stroke screenplay, which is set in 1971, is based on the true story of Herman Boone (Denzel Washington), a black football coach who's hired to lead a newly integrated small-town Virginia high school team to the state championship. Five minutes into the movie, there's no doubt that he'll be able do it, even if his boys have to mow their way through the Green Bay Packers and the German Wehrmacht. The only surprise is that Washington doesn't develop stigmatic wounds in the process.

If you've ever wondered what life would be like if every conversation were a thinly disguised pep talk, here's your chance. Virtually everything that comes out of Washington's mouth sounds like a call-to-arms being issued during the two-minute warning. Boone is such a profound motivator that he actually manages to coach away deeply ingrained racism during a two-week preseason football camp.

Racism joins team

At first, his prejudiced players, both black and white, are at each other's throats. But, as luck would have it, the camp is located near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. When the tension has reached a boiling point, Boone wakes the kids up at 4 a.m. and forces them to run through the woods in their skivvies until they reach the historic battlefield. This, as you might imagine, doesn't go over too well with the team.

It all works out for the best, though, just like everything else in the movie. When Boone explains that the Titans are still fighting the same divisive war that decimated the United States 100 years earlier, the kids thoughtfully peer through the early morning mist and go "Hmmmmmm."

From there on out, they're more or less one big puntin', passin', and kickin' family. Friends are made, tears are shed, and -- you guessed it -- everybody sings a Motown song. If you were to take the film industry's word for it, you'd think that a blast of Smokey Robinson or The Four Tops can cure cancer.

If only. A dynamic school teacher might eventually be able to ease the hatred out of a surly teen, given a lot of patience and energy. But Washington manages the task as if he's chewing the flavor out of a stick of spearmint gum.

That's how the whole movie works. Nothing is so difficult that it can't be overcome by back-breaking practices and a couple of forced conversations between dissimilar people.

Tensions in town

Back in town, of course, the white parents are still seething with prejudice. They talk about the shame of "those people" playing next to their kids, and how that no-good black SOB was bused in, forcing their beloved head coach, Bill Yoast (Will Patton), into a subservient defensive coordinator position. Bill's white, you know. So it ain't right, dad-gummit.

The community's black population, on the other hand, gathers in Boone's front yard to applaud his presence and show their extremely movie-like support. Boone and Yoast supposedly hate each other because Boone drives the kids like animals and doesn't want to hear suggestions from the rest of his staff. But Washington's effortless charisma makes him seem intensely focused, rather than crazed beyond reason. And Yoast, who's really pretty boring, is certainly more ingratiating than his football-obsessed daughter, Cheryl (Hayden Pantettiere). Apparently, it's hilarious when a cute little girl continually spouts arcane gridiron strategy, or screams bloody murder at the referee during tight games.

Yakin does what he can, under the circumstances. At the very least, he manages to avoid cliched sports-movie visuals. There are only one or two brief slow-motion shots in the entire picture, and the sometimes involving game sequences aren't over-edited to the point of exhaustion. It's a pity that the script is so paint-by-numbers.

In case you're scoring at home, there are good people and bad people. There are also black people and white people. Before it's all over, there are only good people, although they retain their original color. Given the film's general tone, it's a wonder Washington doesn't convince everyone to turn beige.

For all its commotion, there's nothing too tumultuous about "Remember the Titans." A crowd-pleaser in the worst sense, it only pretends to deal with real issues, instead of fully considering their complexity. Then everyone gets to clap and go home feeling purified. Rated PG. 113 minutes.