April 9, 2020 – Remember the Titans (2000) Prime
Today was a day to recover from a tough work week, from planning and holding our Passover seder last night, and from a bit more than four cups of wine. Here is a recovery day movie that did not require a lot of concentration to watch. Remember the Titans announced its lack of subtlety and nuance from the start. There is no subtext in this film – everything is spelled out. The score is saccharine and manipulative. There is no “unconscious bias” in Titans – all the racism is overt, conscious and extreme. But be assured that by the final act, people are brought together across racial lines by the redemptive power of Football. There was not a single thing that happened during this movie that we didn’t foresee, but despite this predictability, Titans is a pleasant, well-made movie. The adult leads – Denzel Washington and Will Paton – are excellent, and the teen leads are good too. A highlight was a performance by a very young Hayden Panettiere. This movie was too long – it should not take two hours to tell this story – but entertaining in its obvious way.
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