Remember the Titans

Remember the Titans (2000) takes place in 1971. T.C. Williams High School, formerly a segregated all white school, becomes integrated. Along with the African American population now present in the school, the teaching staff places Coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) in charge of the highly talented T.C. Williams Titans. This move leaves former head coach, Bill Yoast (Will Patton), to cast aside his pride and ask Boone to hire him as a defensive coordinator.

Coach Boone decides to hold a boot camp-like two-a-days for the team in Gettysburg, and, after the players load up into the two buses completely segregated, tells them all to get off and get on the bus according to which side of the ball they wish to play on.

The team clashes over and over again during two-a-days. Only one member of the team, Louie Lastik (Ethan Suplee), seems immune to any kind of racism. Boone forces the players to room with teammates of the opposite race and once even that doesn't cause any progress, at 3:00am, he takes them to the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War and where Abraham Lincoln gave the famous Gettysburg address. Boone tells them the story of Gettysburg and says that if they don't come together as a team, ignoring race, they won't only have a bad football season, but their lives will continue to be affected by racial conflict until it becomes the death of them as well.

The team returns to school and, although they have overcome racism, find themselves back in "the real world" facing the same problems they had discarded.

"THE running back" Petey Jones (Donald Faison) has a habitual addiction of flirting. He makes the mistake of hitting on a girl whose apparent boyfriend comes up, starting a brawl amongst nearly the entire student body which Julius Campbell (Wood Harris) and Gary Bertier (Ryan Hurst), leaders of each race on the team, are forced to break up.

Life goes on, and the Titans end up doing very well for themselves. Although there is still a lot of racial tension as evidenced by a brick sailing through Coach Boone's window, it seems as if the town may finally be pulling together until Boone is issued a mandate to win every football game on the schedule or he will lose his newly acquired job.

I could spoil the rest of the movie for you, but I, instead, implore you to watch it if you have not already. A story of racial tension and struggles, which takes place on the eve of one of our nation's short history's darkest hours, Remember the Titans is not only the best sports movie this writer has ever watched, but also one of the best movies to ever find itself on the big screen.

Denzel Washington, who won an accolade of awards as best actor for his portrayal of Coach Boone, finds himself in the best role of his career.

The football action is realistic, the acting is phenomenal, and this film is outstanding. For it's ten year anniversary, if you have seen it already, this writer encourages you to bring it back out and "remember, forever, the night" you watched the Titans.