Remember The Titans Review

Just how 'All American' can a movie be? Based on a true story, "Remember The Titans" is set in Virginia, 1971, and follows Oscar winner Denzel Washington's attempts to coach a winning high school football team. It comprises both black and white students after the racial integration of the school, an action resented by many white students and their families.

"Remember The Titans" seems to present a candy-coated version of the events of that traumatic time, with most of the racial hostility between the various players being ironed out during an intense training camp session, culminating in a cringeworthy 'God bless America' speech from Denzel Washington at the scene of one of the battles of the American Civil War. After the team returns home and the high school year starts, it's pretty obvious where the film's going, and although there are some further signs of racial conflict, those events are portrayed almost as inconvenient rather than unjust. This film was a big hit in the US last year, but it's hard to imagine either its rather simplistic 'feel good' formula (or its focus on American Football, the world's dullest sport) going down quite so well with us more cynical Brits.