Do you enjoy a good match of Gridiron, big tackles, and even bigger dramas? Well then Remember the Titans is the movie for you. A reasonably well-produced sports action film based around the desegregation of T.C Williams High School during the 1950s. Starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Gosling and with the likes of Gregory Allen Howard writing the screenplay it tells this (mostly) true story with emotional and inspiring prowess.
The story of Remember the Titans starts us off in Alexandria, Virginia, a town torn apart by the integration of African Americans into an all-White school. Because of the integration, a new black head coach had been selected to replace the current white one. Of course, this new coach was none other than Coach Boone. Many white people were unhappy with this and over the course of the film, the players and the Coaches learn to get along and even rely on each other during the toughest of games. With each game, respect grew for one another. Within the community of Alexandria racial tension was displayed through fighting and racist comments, but through sport, the team becomes a symbol of unity breaking down the racial barriers and leading to the community becoming more cohesive.
Acting in itself can be an extremely difficult thing to master, however, I believe many aspects of it have been used to great effect in this movie. All main characters were made believable and each had some well-defined characteristics, although you could argue that some characters such as Sunshine (the Californian hippie) or Gerry (the aggressive white football jock) were somewhat stereotypical. Denzel Washington’s portrayal of Coach Boone led his character to be particularly believable and have real depth. He was a tough, consistent but firm coach and wanted the very best out of his players, as athletes and people. Coach Boone treated all his players equally which represents how all people should be treated in general. Another interesting character (played by Hayden Panettiere) was Sheryl, the daughter of coach Yoast. Sheryl was extremely passionate about American football and was initially hostile towards coach Boone saying things like “You took my daddy’s job” but her attitude changed as the film progressed and developed a respect for Boone. She refused to play “Girlie” games with coach Boones daughter but learned to accept each other’s differences. This also represents how the team learned to get along. However, over the course of the film, the character’s personalities were expanded upon, leading to them being more likable. An example of this is when during the training camp the white and black characters became far more accepting of each other. This led to some amusing things happening and some characters even developed friendships.
Music in most movies can play a vital role in adding emotional flare or intense realism to certain scenes. The soundtracks used in Remember the Titans often have lyrics that represent challenges that the team faces, for example, Ain’t No Mountain high enough, which is played in the bus seen. This is effective because the lyrics foreshadow the racial and physical challenges that are ahead of the team. The word mountain symbolizes the racial hurdles ahead of them. The instrumental music was written to reflect the emotions portrayed in the movie such as sadness when visiting the hospital and quite uplifting when they won a game. In the Gettysburg scene, the song A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall is played when the Titans are running to the gravesite of the Battle of Gettysburg. This reflects the obstacles the team will end up facing to become united. Other well-known music tracks also feature in the film such as Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Up Around the Bend” and Norman Greenborn’s “Spirit in the sky” which are examples of classic 70’s Soul Rock music. This was all carefully crafted by musician Trevor Raymen.
Overall I think Remember the Titans is a well rounded and thought about film that was enjoyable and uplifting. Whilst it highlighted the racial problems occurring at the time I felt at some points it added a stereotypical undertone and even oversimplified certain viewpoints. With that aside, I would rate the film about seven out of ten.