NO DEBATING IT, THE DEBATERS IS A GREAT MOVIE

Friday or Saturday night is my time to sit back and watch all the movies I didn’t see in the theatre. I haven’t paid for a movie ticket in years, opting to wait till it comes out on Netflix and watch in the comfort of my home.

Last Saturday night I watched the movie THE GREAT DEBATERS starring Denzel Washington, Forrest Whitaker, Kimberly Elise, Nate Parker, Gina Ravera and Jurnee Smollett. Denzel also directed the movie in his continuing move to be behind the camera as well as in front of it. It was produced by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions and it was in theatres starting on Christmas day, 2007.

There were several reasons why I was attracted to this movie and wanted to see it as soon as it became available. First reason of course is Denzel Washington. Along with Morgan Freeman and Michael Douglass, Denzel is on my short list of actors whose movies I will watch regardless of plot, cast or genre. Like Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, Robert DeNiro, and Eddie Murphy, when Washington is in a movie you know at the very least it will be extremely well acted. In my opinion, Washington has not made a bad movie (he’s had sub par, average, and close to bad, but he hasn’t crossed into the bad category in 12 years) since 1995 when him and Russell Crowe teamed together to make Virtuosity. They have since made up for that movie with their brilliant performances in American Gangster.

The other reason why I was looking forward to watching this movie was the inspirational and historical story it told. It was loosely based on a true story about a debate team from Wiley College, a Black College in Marshall Texas, around the time period of 1935 and its coach, Melvin B. Tolson (Washington).

Tolson was an educator and also the coach of the College debate team. Because of the color of their skin, they were not allowed to debate white colleges and universities, something that Tolson vehemently fought.

 

After showing their prowess in defeating black colleges, they were allowed to debate against a few white colleges and universities. Once again, the debaters of Wiley College showed their immense abilities by defeating those colleges also. They were noticed by Harvard University and asked to travel to Cambridge and debate their team.

 

After showing their prowess in defeating black colleges, they were allowed to debate against a few white colleges and universities. Once again, the debaters of Wiley College showed their immense abilities by defeating those colleges also. They were noticed by Harvard University and asked to travel to Cambridge and debate their team.

 

 I thought the acting was wonderful from all that was involved, and I thought the story was told very well. The movie showed the racism of the day but didn’t let that be the overwhelming theme of the story. The characters were presented well and gave the viewer the ability to become emotionally attached with what they were going through. 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and highly recommend it as both entertainment and educational viewing.

SOME OF THE ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE WILEY COLLEGE DEBATE TEAM