Profound message given Disney treatment

Rating: 7/10 (16 July 2002)

Movie has a ton of value and much to teach audiences of today. If for no other reason than to make sure that its shown that racism never was a good idea and its still not. It shows the struggles of a town to come to terms with its inter-racial beginnings.
Denzel gives his customary humorless performance. He is never intense when he is supposed to be, and even when its time to celebrate or actually breathe, he can't seem to do that. The only scene he seems to be giving anything to is one where the Titans beat a hated opposing coach who referred to him as a non-human - in this scene Denzel gets to give the guy a banana. Perhaps Denzel was uncomfortable with the subject matter, but its not like the script was going to be changed so everyone was holding hands from the start, right?
Will Patton is worse. He's THIS CLOSE to playing more psycho parts like he did in that Kevin Costner/Sean Young thriller that I can't remember the name of. He whistles when he speaks and its annoying.
The worse is his daughter, a nine-year old who thinks she should be coaching the team. I loathe children in movies who act like they're 39 and she epitomizes that.
Too much is sugar-coated and too much is never even shown. Also you never see any prejudice on the black side. I am sure there are blacks who are prejudiced against whites as well and were extremely vocal in their feelings about that. No one's black mother is shown reluctant to meet her sons' new white friend. Why? This is what I meant by 'Disney treatment' in the title..some things will never change as long as movies like this are never fair.
The best actor is Wood Harris as Julius, followed by Ryan Hurst as Bertier and Kip Pardue as Sunshine. This seems fitting, as the movie was about them anyway. Harris has a great moment, when a cop car pulls up next to him. Guaranteed that's unfortunately happened to him much more than it should have, and for all the wrong reasons, but this time the police officer is congratulating him on a great game. His look of shock combined with relief and genuine thanks is worth ninety other movies and says everything you need to know about this movie. 8/10.