The Great Debaters

Its nice to know that the sports movie formula is so tried and true that it can be used to make an inspirational story about a debate team. Then again, there is nothing like being on the edge of your seat waiting on a rebuttal. The Great Debaters hits all the points that you would expect but that doesn’t stop it from being inspirational and uplifting once it got to the final moments.

Denzel Washington takes his second turn behind the camera with The Great Debaters. He is completely fine as a director and since this story is told like your classic high school or college sports team coming together, Denzel is able to film all the usual standbys. Star player having conflict with the coach, love triangle, team coming together to support the coach when he is in need, adversity strikes, everyone comes together at the end, little guy hits the last minute shot. Nothing new but it’s a formula because it works. He may be the director here but Denzel’s best work, for now, comes when he is in front of the camera. Denzel may be walking the same ground he traversed in Remember the Titans, but taking on similar roles is nothing new for the man. Plus this time he has sweet hair, wears cool jackets, and dresses like a sharecropper when he spreads the word of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union. Much of the movie may have concentrated on the debaters but Denzel still gives himself a few moments to shine. His speech about Willie Lynch was a classic and then there were his great reactions throughout the movie either in dealing with this team or when he is having an argument with Forest. I wouldn't put this ahead of American Gangster but the The Great Debaters was right in Denzel's wheelhouse.

The other big name in The Great Debaters is Forest Whitaker. He is phenomenal as the minister father of the youngest debater. Since its Forest, you always wish that he had more to do. He gets a few scenes to show his skills but his best work is when he and Denzel go head to head for a couple minutes. The four debaters all do good work. Once again they come close to clichés at certain points, but Nate Parker brings enough emotion so he doesn’t become just the temperamental star and Denzel Whitaker (which is a spectacular name to have as an actor in this movie) is able to turn James Farmer, Jr. into more than just the young kid on the team. Plus Jurnee Smollett turns into a preacher when she is on stage and her voice became downright hilarious.

The subject matter of The Great Debaters allowed a basic team overcoming adversity story to become a better final product. Race in America post-Civil War but pre-Civil Rights has not been explored all that often for movies so much of story felt fresh. The only issues I would have with the movie is that you knew what was going to take place beore it happened onscreen. Still, you can't help but pull for the kid when he gets up on stage at the end and that is all that matters in this type of movie.

8 out of 10