The Great Debaters

 3/4

Starring: Denzel Washington, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, Denzel Whitaker, Jermaine Williams, Kimberly Elise, John Heard

Rated PG-13 for Depiction of Strong Thematic Material including Violence and Disturbing Images, and or Language and Brief Sexuality

"The Great Debaters" is a sports movie that is more interested in the characters than the sport.  This is part criticism and part observation.  Don't get me wrong.  There are definite pleasures to be found here, and the film is worth seeing.  It's just that, as a filmmaker, Denzel Washington's ambitions outstrip his talents.  But this is an improvement upon his first time in the director's chair, "Antwone Fisher."

Melvin Tolson (Washington) is a dedicated professor at Wiley College, a small Methodist college in Texas.  He is the head of the school debate team, and has selected four students to join.  They are: cocky Henry Lowe (Parker), aspiring lawyer Samantha Booke (Smollett), fourteen-year-old James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker, no relation to either of his co-stars) and returning member Hamilton Burgess (Williams).  Under his firm guidance, the team dominates the intercollegiate debate circuit, and their journey takes them all the way to Harvard University.

What sets this film apart from a lot of others is that the characters are intelligent and articulate.  Like, they are really smart.  Of course, they'd have to be to be skilled debaters.  But these people are able to express themselves with such richness and depth that it becomes a joy just to listen to them talk.  Washington wants us to see them as people first, competitors second.

He certainly has the right cast to do it.  Nate Parker is a scene-stealer as Lowe, whose skill and charisma are sidelined by his weakness for women and drink.  Jurnee Smollett has a flat moment or two in the beginning, but quickly grows into her role as the quietly ambitious Samantha, who acquires self-confidence through debate. And Denzel Whitaker is perfectly cast as James, whose intelligence is equally matched to his naïveté.  The two seasoned actors, Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker, are disappointments.  Forest Whitaker is fine, but he really doesn't have much to do.  Denzel Washinton seems to be too showy, as if he is playing to a stage audience rather than a film one.  When he's quieter, he's effective.

The problem, in so much that it is a problem, is that Washington is so interested in these people that the sport aspect of this sports movie feels like an afterthought.  There are too few scenes of them debating, and that upsets the balance.  The film does generate some dramatic tension, but the balance feels off.

Nevertheless, the film is worth seeing for what it does right.  And there is a lot that this film does right.

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