Remember the Titans (2000) review

Remember the Titans (2000)

Directed by: Boaz Yakin

Produced by: Jerry Bruckheimer, Chad Oman

Screenplay by: Gregory Allen Howard

Starring: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst, Donald Faison

In my opinion, there’s nothing quite like watching a high school football game. I grew up in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, one of those towns that basically shut down on Friday night during the autumn months between September and December, because people are going to the game. In my high school years, I watched my team celebrate their 100th season as a freshman, obtain a perfect 12-0 campaign as a sophomore, play a Thanksgiving Day Game on national television in the 100th meeting against our rivals from Easton, Pennsylvania as a junior, and earn their 600th all-time win as a senior. But today’s movie, Disney’s “Remember the Titans,” features a team that went through different types of stakes and expectations. Inspired by the true story of a team from Alexandria, Virginia in 1971 that overcame racial tension as a result of school integration, this is a relatively sanitized retelling of a serious subject, but ultimately scores big through its performances, soundtrack and energetic pacing.

The story begins in the summer of ’71, when the all-white Hammond and all-black George Washington High Schools were integrated into T.C. Williams High School. Football coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington), initially slated to head the Washington team, is installed as the head coach of T.C. Williams to ease the restless African-American community following recent criminal bigotry. The man passed over for him is Bill Yoast (Will Patton), head coach of the Hammond team who’s been nominated for the Virginia High School Hall of Fame. With the white players pledging to boycott at the cost of collegiate futures, Yoast reluctantly agrees to be Boone’s assistant coach and defensive coordinator. The team goes through training camp at Gettysburg College, where the hard-nosed Boone insists that the players spend time getting to know each other, promising that the best players will play, regardless of color. Despite numerous conflicts, particularly between linebackers and captains Gerry Bertier (Ryan Hurst) and Julius Campbell (Wood Harris), the team comes together; throughout the season, however, outside influences threaten to tear them apart.

Denzel Washington has become one of the most accomplished actors of all-time; even back in 2000, he was already a four-time Oscar nominee, and thus brings magnetic, unforgettable presence and poise as Boone. He’s boisterous, but speaks the truth; his practices are harsh, but he knows the players will be better off focusing on that than what color their teammates are. He even acknowledges, “I may be a mean cuss, but I’m the same mean cuss with everybody out there on that football field.” Oh, that reminds me; Boone has some of the best lines and rants of any sports movie I can think of. I won’t lie; it gets really cheesy and corny at times, but there’s something satisfying about watching him dress down this cocky group of kids and really drive home the point that this team is about more than just football.

I remember having a contemporary issues class in high school, and we studied aspects of this movie; one of the themes discussed was affirmative action—the hiring of Boone—and reverse discrimination, which comes across with Yoast. We see throughout the film that he’s not racist, but still resentful of the situation, being replaced at the last minute for a job he’d rightfully earned. As a result, he feels he has to compensate by being more lenient towards the black players, unilaterally moving running back Petey Jones (Donald Faison) to defense in the middle of a game after Boone chews him out. Ultimately, he means well, even if he has to learn that what he wants isn’t always what the players need. Speaking of the players, they’re all great at portraying the enthusiasm and camaraderie of the circumstance; Gerry and Julius eventually gain a warm, wonderful friendship, Donald Faison plays Petey with tremendous ardor, Ethan Suplee is funny as offensive lineman Louie Lastik, and Kip Pardue has an endearingly smooth temperament as golden-locked quarterback Ronnie “Sunshine” Bass. I should also mention Hayden Panettiere in one of her first major film roles as Yoast’s young daughter Sheryl, a football fanatic who frequently talks shop with Boone; she’s a real firecracker, stealing nearly any scene she’s in.

Bear in mind, like with most Hollywood films, a good chunk of the drama is fictionalized or dramatized, both with the racist acts and football; the Titans had a much easier time on the field than portrayed, particularly focused characters didn’t exist, and a certain tragic accident happened after the season, not just before the state championship game. But if it streamlines the story and the events feel honest, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. I appreciate that the movie isn’t afraid to show hard truths, that there are some sad people in the world, maybe some we’ve grown up with and are close to, that just won’t change. The original script was actually much more profane, but Disney trimmed it down to a more family-friendly PG rating; so there’s no use of the n-word or excessive violence. Like I said, this is relatively tame representation in comparison to something like “The Color of Friendship” or “Ruby Bridges.” However, it also shows the special power that can come from a single unifying cause, one that can inspire real feelings of hope and joy.

Even though I think the football action could’ve used much tighter editing—don’t get me wrong, it looks clean and coherent, but there’s a poor sense of time and stakes—it’s definitely helped by the body language and music. The whole soundtrack is full of a great blending of some of the great rock, pop and soul tracks of the time period from Marvin Gaye, Norman Greenbaum, The Hollies, Cat Stevens, Steam, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and more. So despite seeming like a simple movie about a football team winning the championship, “Remember the Titans” has a solid aesthetic identity complemented by actors that are committed to what it’s presenting. On some school days where there was little to no work to do, teachers would put this movie on, probably because it would entertain us with football and was a safe way to teach students about racism without diving too hard. More than 20 years later, it still sticks with me; I have friends who I quote it with all the time, and although it borders on fluff, it has a genial small-town quality, where the passion and harmony are on full display.

My rating: 9/10