Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
The Great Debaters (2007)
Director: Denzel Washington
Movie review
From Time Out New York
The rules of formal debate are clear. Avoid emotional appeals. Empty rhetoric will cost you. Stick to the facts. Destroy your opponents’ arguments with sustained, reasoned attacks. The rules of The Great Debaters are also fixed. If you must clap, clap extremely slowly, with tears rimming your eyes. Have your inspirational coach (Washington, also behind the camera) ladle out tough love, while also teaching his eager students to overcome 1930s Texas racism with their beautiful minds. Have this teacher observe their final victory from a balcony, quaking with pride. Have it be at Harvard. (In real life, it was the University of Southern California.)
The story of Wiley College’s national triumph under the real Melvin B. Tolson fits the Oprah mold snugly; her company is a producer. And while it would be unseemly to fully reject a movie this well-meaning, you wish it had more faith in the intellect of its viewers. It calls out for a thornier director, one who might have made an ironic meal out of the phony wars of words hiding deeper resentments. Forest Whitaker shows up as a stern, righteous scholar; though he never gets the chance, you know he could eat these cute debaters for breakfast.
Author: Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York Time Out New York, Issue 637–638, December 13–26, 2007
Cast & crew
Director: Denzel Washington
Cast: Denzel Washington, Nate Parker, John Heard, Forest Whitaker
Genre(s): Drama
Duration: 123 mins
US Release: Dec 25 2007
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
James Marsh on ‘Man on Wire’
James Marsh tells David Jenkins the amazing story of ‘Man on Wire’ and how he saw the Twin Towers go up – and come down
Gurinder Chada on ‘Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging’
Gurinder Chada, the director of Brit hit, 'Bend it Like Beckham' discusses her new film, ‘Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging’ with Wally Hammond
A holiday guide to movie dystopias
‘Going anywhere nice this summer, sir?’ To celebrate the release of Pixar’s sublime post-apocalyptic robo-romance ‘Wall-E’, Time Out offers a tour guide of the best future worlds in film
Eddie Murphy's Crimes Against Cinema
We all remember the comic highs of 'Beverly Hills Cop' and 'Bowfinger', but Eddie Murphy has been in a fair few stinkers as well. Time Out to presents a handy rundown of his ten darkest cinematic hours...






What do you think?
Post your review now