"Winning Changes Everything"
Disney is
advertising "Glory Road," its soon to be
released film about the 1966 NCAA Championship
Texas Western basketball team, as a film that
will do for basketball what "Remember the
Titans" did for football.
First, one has to ask what it is, exactly, that
"Remember the Titans" actually did for football?
Seriously, I remember the film...heck, I even
enjoyed the film. But, what exactly did it do
for football?
This obvious question aside, "Glory Road" does
invite, almost beg for actually, comparison to
"Remember the Titans," the 2000 film starring
Denzel Washington about the racial integration
of a high school football team by its new
African-American coach and the profound impact
it had on the the players, the school, and the
community at large.
Where these two films differed is quite
simple..."Remember the Titans" was blessed with
a lead actor named Denzel Washington.
Washington, at his worst, is able to transform
the most common role and own it and elevate it
beyond mediocrity. Washington finds the
character between the words on the written page,
and he transforms those words into meaning.
"Glory Road", on the other hand, is "blessed"
with Josh Lucas in the lead role as real life
Texas Western (now University of Texas-El Paso)
Don Haskins, a coach recalled by his players as
a man of wit, charisma and absolute discipline
and focus. Lucas has, in all fairness, had the
occasional meaty role, however, he seems to have
a knack for following up every meaty, indie
flick with a film such as "Stealth" or "Sweet
Home Alabama," in which he typically appears as
a smarmy, cocky good ole' boy.
His performance here is much of the same, and
turns a man who was, by the accounts of his
players, a man of great charisma, compassion and
concern, into a caricature using the bold
"coach" voice that we so often see in sports
films. Lucas' performance is not, by any means,
a weak performance. It is, however, a
performance lacking in charisma and appeal for a
man who seemingly possessed so much of it and,
in fact, changed the course of college
basketball by actively recruiting and starting
an all African-American lineup of players.
Too often, "Glory Road" is content to settle for
dramatics instead of character development in
the pursuit of a great film. It is sadly, almost
painfully clear, that the entire filmmaking
vision centered on making a basketball version
of "Remember The Titans."
The film does, in fact, have a couple key
factors in common with "Remember The Titans."
First, both films were produced by action man
Jerry Bruckheimer, and secondly, both films were
inspired by true stories but, in fact, took
great license with the events surrounding the
incredibly inspirational story.
In "Remember The Titans," this dramatic license
worked wonderfully and elevated what was,
essentially, a melodramatic family film into a
modest box-office hit and general feel-good
movie. In "Glory Road," the dramatic license is
even more extreme, but with a weaker lead
performance and less of a build-up into the
"team" unity and team success it becomes much
more challenging to ever buy into the film, the
team, the situation or the characters.
For example, "Glory Road" plays as if this story
is, essentially, a season in the life of the
players and the coach following the integration
of the team. In fact, this "real life" story
takes place over four seasons and their season
of glory was, in fact, their final season
together. You wouldn't know this from watching
the film, however, as the film plays as if the
players meet in a cafeteria, tussle a bit, bond,
become close, win their first game (and next 17
plus), face racism the more they win,
then...well, you get the idea.
The film also stars Jon Voight, as the
University of Kentucky coaching legend Adolph
Rupp, and features Derek Luke in the role of one
of Haskins' elite recruits brought into a
community not quite ready for African-American
players. Unfortunately, first-time director
James Gartner's poor sense of dramatic timing
dilutes the impact of the film's naturally
inspirational story by often cutting off scenes
too quickly, and failing to develop others. We
are never allowed the opportunity to bond with
the players beyond, of course, following them
through a couple scenes of deliberate
disobedience of the coach with no apparent
purpose within the context of the film. Scenes
of racism, while dramatic and challenging to
watch at times, are often so brief that one begs
to truly get inside the heads of the players who
endured such racism during a time when much of
America wasn't ready for their success.
"Glory Road" features a marvelous, R&B
soundtrack, however, the cinematography often
makes the film feel much older than it actually
should. The film often feels like a mid-50's
film when it is actually a story that takes
place in the mid-60's.
"Glory Road" is not a bad film, but it is also
not the film these players deserved. Their story
is truly an inspirational, often heartwrenching
story. Too often, first-time writer Chris
Cleveland's script settles for dramatic
histrionics when it could have had real life
motivation and inspiration.
"Glory Road" is much closer to "Blue Chips" than
the heartwarming, widely admired basketball film
"Hoosiers." Those who grew up active in the
Civil Rights era of the 1960's and early 70's
are much more likely to appreciate "Glory Road"
than the general American moviegoing audience.
"Glory Road" is a tribute to the
African-American athletes who endured racism,
hatred, abuse and humiliation in their pursuit
of the American Dream. I only wish I'd really
gotten a chance to get to know these athletes a
little better. The end result for "Glory Road"
is an average film about a stellar, above
average group of young men who changed college
basketball, changed their communities, and in
the end, elevated themselves to glorious
heights.
©
Written by Richard Propes
TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Jacob
Hall's Comment
n/a
