Solid film, but nothing spectacular.

Rating: Null/10 (18 October 2000)

Remember The Titans is the story of a newly racially integrated high school football team's run to the Virginia state championship. Alexandria, Virginia's segregated high schools are forced to unite and form one uber-school, T.C. Williams High. Among other major, obvious problems, one problem, the focalpoint of the film, is the newly created football team. Bill Yoast (Will Patton) had been successful as coach of of the white high school in Alexandria for a long time, so when Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) moves in from the black school and is appointed head coach in the name of affirmative action, naturally he's a little angry. Now, of course there are going to be a few cliches in this movie, it's movie about football, the most cliche ridden thing in our society, but muchos props to Gregory Allen Howard, the screenwriter, for not making the "token white coach," the "token racist coach." If there's any tension between Boone and Yoast it's purely because of the situation that they are both dealing with. Despite the general consensus of the town's disapproval, Yoast signs on as the defensive coordinator under Boone. The movie continues on through training camp in Pennsylvania, (which includes a stop at Gettysburg Battlefield) where the racial tension among the players slowly eases over two weeks. Over the course of the season we get served with a large number of predictable events including: The racist opposing coach who bribes the refs, the one player who refuses to support his black teammates, the token fat kid who helps the players get along better whilst adding some comic relief. (Ironically enough, played by Ethan Suplee, Seth from American History X) The football scenes are mostly well done, with the exception being the close camera angle that made following the logistics of the play or game difficult at times. One interesting thing to note is the behavior of the citizens in the movie. They were, for the most part, very close-minded and didn't change in these views until the football team started to win. Whether this says something good about sports for bringing the people together, or something bad about the townfolk for not caring until something good came out of it, is uncertain. Overall, while Remember The Titans seemed very hackneyed at times, it was less so than most sports movies, and superb acting by Washington and Patton made for some excellent scenes and a solid film.
-as Published in 'The Bear' (student newspaper of West Branch High School)