too cute for its own good

Rating: Null/10 (8 October 2000)

"Remember the Titans" reminds us that fear is the only thing standing in the way of a society not divided across racial lines. We fear those who are different than us. We tend to reject what we don't understand.
The film is about the redistricting and forced integration of two high schools in Virginia in 1971. An all-white football team that has had great success its past few seasons must now give up parts of its roster to players from the school it's merging with-who just happen to be all black. The white players have played under coach Bill Yoast (Will Patton), who is a nominee for the Virginia High School Football Hall of Fame. The school's athletic board, believing they can prove that integration is a bad idea, brings in Herman Boone (Denzel Washington), a black man, to replace him as head coach. They'll then sit and wait through training camp until Boone's team loses a game, then fire him. Yoast unexpectedly stays on as Boone's defensive coordinator, however, and they head for camp. Understandably, the white players have difficulty with the situation. They feel, justifiably, that their team was just fine the way it was. They know each other. They were winning.
Another great point that Titans makes is that sometimes winning is not important. Coach Boone wants to win but, like all great coaches, he won't deny any kid who wants it the chance to compete and contribute. He designs the two-week training camp to force the boys to get to know each other. Like it or not, this is our team, is what he's saying to them. `I don't care if you like each other,' he tells them, `but you will respect each other.' At first, it looks like they'll do neither. Boone forces them to room with someone they don't know, which usually ends up being someone of a different race. But this is a Disney movie and heck, a true story, so they do learn to respect each other. Then they learn to like each other. The result is a powerful, almost unstoppable high school football team.
The players return to the real world to find that many of the citizens of Alexandria, the school's town, could have stood to go to Boone's camp themselves. The players overcome their first obstacle, their own fear. Now their new friendships will be put to the test by a backward society that hasn't had the benefit of the intensive bonding experience they just had. Some simply fear the team won't be as good as it was. This fear is quickly diminished. For some, though, it's just plain bigotry. Win or lose, they won't accept a group of black and white boys playing together as a team.
Not only did this film come from the Mouse House, but it's also a Jerry Bruckheimer production. This strange combination has created a gritty film that's still family-friendly. Basically, they were trying to please everyone, young and old, male and female. For the most part, they succeed. Still, the Disney/Bruckheimer factor does hurt it in many ways. The singing and dancing for instance, even if it did really happen, should have been left out. It makes nice footage to put in a trailer, but when inserted into the actual film, it ruins the overall tone. What hurts most though, is that there was no hope of giving it the ending it really needed, namely the Titans losing.
Okay, I know it's a true story. But T.C. Williams was not the only high school that was created by forced integration. A bolder move would have been choosing a different such school, one whos football team wasn't all that successful. Really, the Titans go undefeated. For one thing, from a sports perspective, what fun is that? But most importantly, the dream season they had begs the question: what if they'd lost a game or two? Or three? How would the town have felt about integration then? If the once-intolerant community still comes together across racial lines, it would mean more. All the film really shows is that that Alexandria is willing to accept integration--as long as the team remains as successful as it has been. What's worse is the film's tagline: `History is written by the winners.' What, exactly, is this supposed to mean?
Still, I recommend "Remember the Titans" ends up because it ends up being a pretty darn good sports movie. And even though its message could have been communicated even more powerfully, the film is more honest about the relationships between blacks and whites than maybe any other mass-market movie has been. Washington is great as usual, but the real stars are the young actors who play the Titans.
Grade: B