Glory Road-Basketball Flick Packs Powerful Bounce ***1/2

Rating: 9/10 (19 November 2006)

Josh Lucas is outstanding as a coach who courts black players from the U.S. to star on the Texas Midwest Basketball team.
The film is so good because it successfully integrates basketball with the struggle for civil rights during the Viet Nam era.
The Caucasian players on the team try to be supportive of their black colleagues but they remark that they have been pushed to the back with the advent of a mostly black team.
The film depicts the taunts that the black members had to go through. Coming into a motel room and seeing derogatory terms all over the wall was a disgrace at best.
Their almost undefeated season and trip to the NCAA is a memorable fête to watch. They eventually make the final and play the longstanding champion team Kentucky led by its veteran coach Adolph Rupp (Jon Voight). Voight gained a lot of weight for the part. He doesn't say much but his facial expressions tell it all-there is bigotry all over him.
A must see film. This is the first time that a mother was brought into a college class to get her lazy son back into the field of geology.
The film is memorable and ends in an upbeat fashion. Don't miss it.