En souvenir des Titans

Remember the Titans is much more than a story about a high school football team. It is a true story about two men who overcome their differences and help an entire town deal with frustration, anger, and mistrust. Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) is the head coach of the football team at the black high school while Bill Yoast (Will Patton) is the head coach of the football team at the white high school. In 1971 the high schools are integrated and Coach Boone is chosen to become the head coach of the football team while Coach Yoast is demoted to assistant coach.

Remember the Titans is a powerful film with incredible performances by both Denzel Washington and Will Patton.

Although a mite too predictable, "Remember the Titans" is an inspiring and entertaining movie. The true story of the integration of a Virginia high school football team and the warm multicultural relationships which developed among the team members, staff and families, the film reminds us once again when working together in a common effort, one can find love and friendship in the most unlikely places. As the head coach, Denzel Washington uses military-style techniques which have been shown time and again to succeed in creating unity and team spirit among people from different backgrounds. Big surprise here. The film's most important lesson is for people to give each other enough respect and trust before making judgements about other people. The film glosses over the genuine cultural differences between black and white communities. They do exist, though are generally minimal among people of the same socioeconomic class. This isn't really important except to those who feel this kind of thing has been done to death over the last three decades. Even they will find plenty to enjoy in "Remember the Titan's". There's plenty of humor and action (some really tough looking football plays). There is also one truly amazing performance, that of Hayden Panettiere as Cheryl Yost. Hayden is TOTALLY convincing as Will Patton's football-obsessed daughter. She's also spunky, charming and strong-willed. There's nothing bitchy about this little girl. You believe she could tear your head off if she put her mind to it. Yet, She still manages to be very feminine and cute. As I said, a truly amazing performance.

This movies a keeper. I'll probably pull this one out about once a year just to lift my spirits.

This movie received a lot of criticism for being a little too "light" in it's depiction of racism in that time period. However, the fact that Disney decided to take on the topic at all astounds me. I think that this movie is incredibly effective and an excellent football movie. It really sucks you into these characters and make you feel for them. I am emotionally affected by this film no matter how many times I've seen it, and I think that this movie will stand up over time as one of the most endearing sports classics of all time.

Quote that i believe defines the movie: "I don't care if you like each other, but you will respect each other. And maybe, I don't know, maybe we can learn to play this game like men."

My personal favorite: "I don't want them to gain another YARD, you blitz all night! They cross the line of scrimmage I swear to God I'm going to take every one of you out. You make sure they remember FOREVER, the night they played the Titans."

Being a former white athlete and coach I am sick of sports movies where the story involves a team eventually winning a championship so I passed this one by when it first came out. Big mistake!! Like "Hoosiers" this one was an exception and what an exception. Remember the Titans is in my top five movies of the past ten years. Denzel Washington, as the coach, gave another of his consistently outstanding performances.

Like "Hoosiers" this is a true story and it is not just a story about sports but a strong story about race. I probably appreciated it more than most because of my background I connected to the movie. During the 1940s I attended schools which were well integrated and students of different races and cultures existed harmoniously. To a large degree, it was because the high school had a very successful football program in which unlike almost all of the other schools, minority athletes were welcome. In my junior year we went undefeated and won the State Championship and the team is still considered the best high school team of all time. The only time the team came close to defeat was in the State final when we played another well integrated team.

Consequently the community while generally middle and upper class except for its minorities was well integrated. As a result although I knew racism existed, I never encountered it in my community. But then I began to see its ugly head. First, the All-American end on our team, a superb athlete, was denied scholarships both to USC and Stanford because neither school accepted minorities. I had always wanted to go to USC but because of what USC did to my friend I turned down its offer of a scholarship the next year as I did to Stanford which I considered a snob school then as I do today.

But my college was cut short when the Korean War began and I was in the service. I was sent to bases in the South and I spent much of the next thirteen years in the South witnessing how bad it was for the blacks and I was involved in the civil rights movement in the South which got me into a lot of trouble with my military superiors.

During my tours in the South I became head coach of a football team at a Southern base. Filled with ex-collegiate stars and some pros, we regularly played Division I colleges and universities. However, because I had black players on my team I couldn't schedule games with any white southern colleges. Instead we scheduled one black college and several state universities in the mid-west.

Some critics have compared the summer camp at which Washington as Coach Boone brought the blacks and whites together as a team as like a Marine Boot Camp but everyone missed the subtlety of this. I went through Boot Camp at a time when the military was just integrating and we had southern blacks and whites as well as a mix of races from other parts of the country in my platoon as well as all classes. It didn't take very long for us to become as one unit. The first part of boot camp is sure hell and the reason for it is that it reduces everyone to the lowest common denominator of misery and you quickly learn that the only way to escape that misery is to work together. This is just the way Coach Boone made it work.

What I liked about this movie is that it showed how all this played out. Most moviegoers today are not really aware of how bad racism was in 1971 but this movie illustrates it well. Even though the movie has a few corny moments and the actors playing the roles as football players look old for high school, these faults are minimal and do not detract from the power of the film.

Based on real events in 1971, where T.C. Williams High School, a now hot bed integrated school, becomes a beacon of unification via their mixed race football team.

As is normally the case with films of this ilk, it quickly comes to pass that certain artistic licence has been taken with the truth. In reality the issues of race, integration and the near powder-keg atmosphere portrayed in the picture, were long past their worst in Virginia 1971. However, that should in no way detract from the thematics and truthful aspects of this Disney production. As is told in the film, the Titans did have what became known as the perfect season, whilst the bond formed between the black and white members most definitely existed. All told, the film soars high as an inspirational piece, not only for the mixed race community coming together plot's essential being, but in the crucial tale of one Gerry Bertier.

That this film urged me to seek out the story of Bertier is a testament to the power of film, regardless of any sort of sentimental prodding from the film makers. It's hoped that this film also prompts newcomers to research further the topics within the story.

The cast list is impressive, Denzel Washington and Will Patton find instant chemistry as the head coaches thrust together by outside influences, with both guys beautifully doing credit to the real life friendship that would be born from the situation. Ryan Hurst, Wood Harris, Ethan Suplee, Donald Faison, Kip Pardue, Craig Kirkwood and a pre-fame Ryan Gosling fill out the integrated football team. With two important family roles nicely portrayed by Hayden Panettiere and Nicole Ari Parker. The soundtrack is nicely put together, with the core offering of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's thumping rendition of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" particularly potent and uplifting.

Though not primarily offering up anything new in the pantheon of race and sport related movies, Remember The Titans does have so much good going for it. It's hard to be picky, even churlish about the little faults (are these actors really the age of high schoolers for example?). So hopefully come the end, after the credits roll, you will be suitably inspired, and perhaps a touch more better off for having spent time with this particular football team. 8.5/10