See The Great Debaters. While acknowledging I have very simple tastes in film and am easily amused, I also submit that it is a beautiful and moving film.
I recall hearing a critic once say that the most popular flims – or the greatest films – all address issues of racial reconciliation. Everything from Star Wars to Porkies… errr, Gone with the Wind.
The Great Debaters isn’t an all-time great, but it is great. It is beautifully shot – tenderly shot. The performances are, across the board, terrific. Forest Whitaker’s performance is spectacular and his on-screen son, Denzel Whitaker (no relation to either Washington or Whitaker) equips himself very nicely.
Through it all, however, Denzel Washington’s directorial hand is evident. This is only the second film he’s directed – 2002’s Antoine Fisher was the first. But what is clear from both films is that he infuses his flims with the same understated passion Washington he brings to his characters.
Enough pseudo review. Go see the film.