Remember the Titans

As a growing fan of NFL, Disney's historical sports drama Remember the Titans has been on my watchlist for a while and now as the film turns twenty years old this year, it seemed like the time was right to see how it ranked up. It's no secret that sports dramas often revolve around saving a struggling team who might win any number of different competitions at the end, and the formula works well. They can make for an engaging drama and Remember the Titans goes further by looking at racial tensions in 1970s America. How would a Disney film handle this?

Based on a true story, Denzel Washington stars as a newly appointed African-American coach for a high school football team that is one of the first in racially integrating two teams into one. The white residents aren't happy and the existing coach, played by Will Patton, feels like his career is being undercut by Washington's arrival but still wants to help in unifying the team.

The message behind the film is strong and director Boaz Yakin, who hasn't directed anything else as big as this, has made an engaging story even if hindered by the constraints that come from this being Disney property. Reading up on this afterwards, the original screenplay wasn't the safe film we have here and I do wonder whether this being a Disney film fails to do justice to the real story. On the other hand it does tell an important story in a way that is accessible to children which is no bad thing.

Sports fans might still be left disappointed as the (American) football elements are featured but Yakin never goes into too much detail. There aren't any tense moments where the team have to go all out and make a Hail Mary which is where Any Given Sunday or Friday Night Lights take the upper hand in this regard. Nonetheless, the film still boasts solid performances from Washington and Patton that do enough to keep film running along nicely in the near two hour running time.

Remember the Titans is a fine drama that tells a good story even if Disney's hand in the making of this might have held it back from greatness. It's not everything I expected it to be because of that but I still found myself engaged and would still recommend this.