The Great Debaters (2007)

Directed by Denzel Washington. Starring Denzel Washington, Denzel Whitaker, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, Forest Whitaker, Jermaine Williams, John Heard, Gina Ravera, Kimberly Elise, Justice Leak. [PG-13]

Polished, affirming drama inspired by a true story, chronicling the efforts and experiences of the debate team from Texas’ all-black Whitey College during the segregated, combustible mid-1930s. They’re led by coach Melvin Tolson (Washington), and he’s audacious enough to throw the proverbial gauntlet toward white colleges, eventually receiving the challenge to take on Harvard University. In real-life, it was USC, and unnecessary dramatic license is one of the nagging flaws in an otherwise moving and involving story. It can be hokey, especially when Robert Eisele’s script steers toward the safer terrain of formula. Also, no matter how impassioned the words are, formal debate is hardly a cinematic subject, and Denzel the director wisely doesn’t try to make it more so than it can withstand. He’s learned from other missteps taken on his directorial debut (Antwone Fisher), and finds a way to balance the precariously disorganized, overstuffed material—racial violence, a love triangle among his debaters, etc.—in a way that sticks to the central message. Unapologetically old-fashioned, more sentimental than sappy, and in the end, it overcame my reservations. Oprah Winfrey co-produced through her company, Harpo Productions.

70/100