I Saw That!

One woman's opinions about popular entertainment.

My Photo
Name:
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States

Amateur boxing coach, Christian (but not so heavenly-minded that I'm no earthly good) singer, writer, self-defense advocate, childfree. feminist www.smartwomenboxingtraining.org

Thursday, October 29, 2009

The Great Debaters (2007)

Professor Tolson (Denzel Washington) arrives at Wiley College, an all-Black institution of learning, and immediately puts out a call for students to audition for the debate team. Henry (Nate Parker), Samantha (Jurnee Smollet), James Jr., (Denzel Whitaker) and Hamilton (Jermaine Williams) pass the professor's tough process and make it in.  Under Tolson's guidance, the team challenges other college debators, and begin to rack up wins.

But all is not well.  It is 1935, and as the students work towards an education, they are constantly put down by a culture who does not respect them as human beings.  When they are invited to an Oklahoma college to debate, the team has to do so at a location away from the campus.  While traveling to and from the various debates, they have to watch the roads for lynch mobs.  Tolson leads a double life as a union organizer, which puts more heat on the team. Despite the hardships, the debate team carries on until they get an invite to a debate at prestigious Harvard University.

This is a well-built story about an unknown piece of American history.  The extras on the DVD go further behind the story, as the real-life people the characters were based on tell their stories about their struggles and triumphs. 

Ms. Smollett come from a family of kids who act.  She and her siblings had a TV show called, "On Our Own" (1994-1995).  She was also in the film Eve's Bayou (1997).  Nate Parker was Alicia Keys' love interest in The Secret Life of Bees (2008).  Forest Whitaker, who appears as the father of one of the team members, is an Oscar winner for his performance in The Last King of Scotland (2006).

Labels: , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home