fairly superficial and conventional

Rating: 7/10 (24 November 2013)

It's 1971 Alexandria, Virginia. The town is racked with racial strife. A storekeeper has shot a black man. The successful high school football team is coached by Bill Yoast (Will Patton) who is in line to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Political changes mean the integration of the school and its football team. Then coach Yoast is replaced by coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington). In order to keep the peace, Yoast stays to coach defense.
It's a fairly standard superficial look at a segregated system being forced together. The best thing in this movie is the duo of Will Patton and Denzel Washington. They do the heaviest lifting acting-wise. They have to act through a minefield especially Denzel. He can't look arrogant but also can't be a saint. He is aggressive and not the most likable character at the start. Will Patton's character is much more the saint in this movie. The players each have limited roles. Ryan Hurst has the leading role among the players and he provides a suitable performance. It is fascinating to see a baby faced Ryan Gosling, and I didn't even realized that Hayden Panettiere played the young loud coach's daughter.
I guess based-on-true-story limits the writing in the movie. However, this is like somebody copied all the stereotypical story lines from other sports-race movies. It isn't very deep, and all the big ideas are touched upon. Every scene is about how race is affecting this school. While the coaches get proper time, the kids are too numerous to get enough space. They need to remember the teens.