Respect

PRIDE does not open any new doors in the genre of film biopics of teachers who raise the status of downtrodden students to the point of genuine appreciation of self worth. The story has been told countless times with different characters, both male and female, different races (African American, Hispanic, Caucasian, etc), and different areas of the United States. But despite the recurring similarity of heart-on-the-sleeve stories such as this, PRIDE stands solidly on its own merits, in part due to the well developed and written screenplay by Kevin Michael Smith, Michael Gozzard, J. Mills Goodloe, and Norman Vance Jr. based on the life and contributions to society of Jim Ellis, in part due to the sensitive direction of Sunu Gonera, and in part due to the fine cast. The idea behind the story may not be new, but PRIDE is a fine example of the genre.

Opening in the 1960s we meet Jim Ellis (Terrence Howard) as a superior swimmer unable to use his gifts because of his race. Jump 10 years forward and Ellis has finished college as a math major and seeks to teach in Philadelphia, only to face racism again. Desperate for work he accepts a 'closing down' job at a condemned Philadelphia Recreation Center tended by downtrodden Elston (Bernie Mac) who resents Ellis' intrusion into his domain. Ellis restores the center's swimming pool and gradually initiates a swim team for troubled teens, young boys and a girl who are new to swimming and even newer to the thought that they can become someone important and rise out of their slum surroundings and influence of drug lords. With time Ellis teaches the team not only how to swim like champions, but also how to gain faith in themselves through PDR (Pride, Determination, Resilience), eventually winning a championship as a team of African Americans in a city still plagued by racism.

The cast is excellent: Terrence Howard once again proves he can create a character of complete credibility, completely immersing himself in a role with all of the subtle facilities of fine acting; Bernie Mac at last is given a serious role and rises to the level of Howard in skill; Kimberly Elise and Tom Arnold provide fine cameo roles. But one of the treasures of this film is the cast of young actors who seem so natural that they deserve special plaudits: Brandon Fobbs, Alphonso McAuley, Regine Nehy, Nate Parker, Kevin Phillips, and Evan Ross. Clint Eastwood's son Scott Reeves plays a pivotal role as a racist swimmer.

So despite the overexposure of stories such as this, PRIDE stands out as one of the best. It is a beautifully filmed and well-developed homage to a very worthy man and coach: PDR. Grady Harp

Back in 1964, Jim Ellis (Terrence Howard) tried to compete in Salisbury, N Carolina but he's not wanted as the only black competitor. Then it's 1973. All he can get is a job to close down a rec center from the Philadelphia Department of Recreation. He finds bitter maintenance guy Elston (Bernie Mac) and a rundown swimming pool. Sue Davis (Kimberly Elise) is the representative who is reluctantly closing down the unused center. When the city takes down the basketball rims, Jim teaches the kids to swim. It turns out that Sue Davis is the sister and guardian of one of the kids.

It's a simple formulaic sports movie. It adds in a splash of racism, a splash of poverty, and stirs it up in an unconventional black sport. Terrence Howard holds it all together. Bernie Mac could have done some damage with his clowning but it's in small doses. It's heart warming at the appropriate time. Tom Arnold may not have the weight to play the bad guy. However the movie follows the underdog formula and does a good job.

It's obvious that a lot of people giving PRIDE a "1" are reacting to the trailers and radio ads that make this movie come off as a "black vs. white" thang. In reality, the movie it self is much more nuanced and filled with universal themes. It's been said that the achievement in sport by people of color is responsible more than anything to bring a semblance of equality in America. In sports, it's mathematical. A strike is a strike, a touchdown's a touchdown no matter who throws it. PRIDE is worth supporting because it shines light on a real-life person who used sports to teach young kids there's a bigger world past the playground, and if you develop your talents you won't have to fall back on the race card to catch breaks. Pride is a solid sports flick with strong performances by all that will suffer because of some unimaginative and lazy marketing. If you like Terrence Howard or Bernie Mac or even Kimberly Elise, make this one worth your time. Otherwise, wait for the Mark Gastineau story.

I'm surprised by some of the comments here. I'm white, I went to see the movie this weekend, and I thought it was great.

Yes, there are some white characters that treat our heroes horribly. But that rang true for me. This was 1974 Philedelphia, after all. And racism is a horrid part of our past.

But all the characters, even our heroes, are flawed. And there are a couple African American characters who are more evil then any of the white characters are.

Furthermore, the entire point of the movie is that pride is something you have to earn. Before you can be proud of yourself, you have to earn it. This applies to everyone, no matter what your background.

Go see this movie for yourself and make up your own mind. Personally, I found it inspiring and well worth watching.

Pride is about an African-American swim coach, Jim Ellis (Terrence Howard), who rebuilds a swimming pool in a Philadelphia Recreation center and starts an all-black swim team. Overall the acting is a average and sometimes corny, but hey that's what happens when you hire Tom Arnold and Bernie Mac to try to be serious actors. Terrence Howard does a pretty good job as Jim Ellis, but he does cry a bit much.

The movie does not provide an accurate portrayal of swimming, however. No team with 5 swimmers can win a state meet as team because 5 people can't accumulate enough points even if they were to win every race they swam in. In a swim meet, there is a limit to how many events one person can swim in. Usually its 2 relays and 2 individual events. You get more points if you win an event but you still get points if you finish in like the top 8. If one swimmer from a school gets 1st place, and two swimmers from another school get 2nd and 3rd, then the school that had the 2nd and 3rd place swimmers, gets more points. A big team with a lot of swimmers will beat a small team, even if the small team has good swimmers, so the idea of PDR's small swim team beating a big swim team is not realistic.

I'm not sure how they did it in the 1970's but I doubt they used a gun to start a race. Also, not once did I see any times announced and that's what swimming is all about. Swimming is mainly an individual sport, with the exception of relays. They just put all the individual's points together from a school and make that team points. You swim to make your times better, and if the movie had times in it, then it would have been more authentic.

I did not live in the 1970's, so I don't know if girls swam against guys, but from my experience with swimming I found the idea that Willie (the black girl swimmer) beating all the guys in butterfly is unrealistic. The idea of a girl beating guys is not totally far-fetched. (Hey I know girls that are faster than me in certain events) But in the movie the last meet is supposed to be a state meet or a national meet or something like that, so the guys there are really fast and no girl, even if she is the fastest girl, can beat the fastest guys.

One part that was completely stupid, was in the 1st meet between Main Line and PDR when the white guy swimmer, kicked Hakim in the face during the 50 yard freestyle. Do you have any idea how difficult that would be? Go and try it. Get in a pool with lanes and tell your buddy to swim in the lane next to you and try and kick him after you do a flip turn. First off, to be able to reach the person next to you, both of you would have to swimming really close to the lane line, and most swimmers, when they are racing swim in the middle to avoid running into the lane lines. The part that makes it really hard is the fact that they did it after a flip turn. (For those of you who aren't swimmers that's when you swim into the wall do a somersault, push off the wall, and go back the other way) After a flip turn you are somewhat disoriented and I don't think you would be able to reach over and kick the guy swimming next to you.

The movie is inspiring, but it could have been a lot better if they had a more experienced director.