Sappy... but enjoyable

Rating: Null/10 (15 May 2001)

Predictable and sappy, Remember the Titans is memorable not for the story, which has been done, overdone and done again, but for the performances of some of the actors. Hayden Panettiere (the young daughter of the white coach) was incredible -- I find it difficult to believe that she's really that good at her age, so I have to attribute a lot of her performance to the director, Boaz Yakin. I'm ashamed that I don't know the name of the other performer who was absolutely outstanding -- the fat kid who finally got to go to college -- he did a super job. Denzel Washington also did a very good job with a part that was pretty much a cliche. In fact, my wife (who's in the business) mentioned that 'there is really something wrong' because Washington didn't win an Oscar for his performance. I think it's not because Mr. Washington is black, but because it's difficult to give an actor a major award for acting in such a sappy little movie. I was most disappointed in Will Patton, who I think is a very good actor (if you like his work, you must see The Paint Job!) At times it seemed to me that Mr. Patton was almost embarrassed by the dialog he had to utter, and his performance wasn't up to his previous appearances.
The movie is just one cliche after another: a combination of racial (racist whites/noble blacks), regional (dumb, unethical Southerners) and sports (the team with the most heart always wins) stereotypes, and it gets very tiresome. The movie is said to be "BASED on a true story," but it's obvious that the writer took some pretty large liberties with the truth. Sort of like Titanic being "based on true events"; yes the boat did sink, but...
But all in all, it was an enjoyable movie -- not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination -- but a nice, enjoyable little movie nonetheless, with some uncommonly good acting from a couple of people.