Jim On Film
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(c) Disney
Iron Will (1994)--With more than a passing resemblance to the 1959 Disney classic Third Man on the Mountain, Iron Will is based on a true story. Will Stoneman is a 17-year old South Dakota boy who enters a 522-mile sled dog race from Winnipeg, Manitoba to St. Paul, Minnesota to earn money for college, save the family farm, and honor the memory of his father. When Will reaches the starting point of the race, he is almost sent away because of his age when newspaper reporter Harry Kingsley steps in for him, hoping to use Will’s story as a human interest angle. After the race begins, Will faces challenges that would set Superman back and shows that he has the "heart of a bear," causing all of America to cheer him on, including those watching in a theater or in front of a television
Iron Will is less of a sports movie than it is a movie about a young man with an iron will to accomplish what he has set out to do despite temptations to give in or despite facing adverse circumstances. Sure, there are scenes of exciting action, including harrowing dives over cliff, wipe outs, and other such racing pratfalls, but below it all is the plight of the utterly likable Will, played perfectly by Mackenzie Astin, and the most thrilling scenes of the movie are those in which he continues to win our hearts despite those challenges. Kevin Spacey also gives a strong performance as Harry Kingsley, one of his roles before he won an Academy Award for The Usual Suspects. All this is set against the background of the eye-popping visuals of northern Minnesota and a moving score by Joel McNeely. And in the grand tradition of the films of Walt Disney, there are even two songs worked into the film, including the funny "Kaiser Bill."
The films does contain some unnecessary language and some violence (including a scene where Will threatens someone with a gun), but at its heart, it is a classic Disney adventure, and best of all, it has been newly released on DVD in a widescreen edition.
(c) Disney
Angels in the Outfield (1994)--The California Angels baseball team are having the losing streak of a lifetime. They can’t win. Meanwhile, foster child Roger is having the losing streak of a lifetime as well. When his father comes to visit, he tells the boy that they’ll be a family again when the Angels win a pennant. So Roger prays, and God sends his angels to help the Angels win.
A remake of a classic, Angels in the Outfield was released in the prime of the various angel movements, but removed from that time, it still works. Much of this success is due to Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who would later go on to greater fame in television and is also voicing Jim Hawkins in Treasure Planet this winter) as Roger and Milton Davis, Jr. as his friend P.J. Sure, they’re cute kids, but they are genuine as well, and their characterizations, particularly that of Gordon-Levitt, strike a chord between sympathy and empathy. Danny Glover, as the coach, is also excellent, and though he was also to star in Operation Dumbo Drop, one wishes he would be used by Disney once again. Even Christopher Lloyd, who was entering the phase in his career where he would take all the bad parts in the worst films that would be offered to him, is fun.
Like The Parent Trap, The Ugly Dachshund, and Freaky Friday, Angels in the Outfield finds a balance between laugh-out-loud humor and a heart-warming outer-covering. Unfortunately, there are a few un-Disneylike words, and one might take offense that all the female angels are relegated to subservient roles while the male angels get game time, but in the end, that is all forgotten . . . especially on the newly released DVD widescreen edition.
(c) Disney
Remember the Titans (2000)--Remember the Titans, as far as I’m concerned, is what a Disney film should be. In it, we have a standard football flick set against the real-life story of coach Herman Boone and his challenge of facing racism in 1971. He is called to coach a high school football team, the Titans, to help the integration of two schools which were previously segregated. Upon moving to Alexandria, Virginia and taking on the team, coach Boone discovers that his position as head coach is really cosmetic, and once the team loses a game, he will lose his job. He must get his team to see each other as more than just a skin color in order to win games and lead the community to integration.
Surprisingly advertised without any mention or allusion to the Disney name, Remember the Titans thrilled many with its intelligent integration of drama and football action with an amazing historical focus. It is this kind of Civil Rights-based/anti-prejudice story that Disney had done so well on the small screen for so many years previously with films such as Polly, A Friendship in Vienna, Perfect Harmony, and others, and it was about time that Disney made one for the big screen.
But the film works not because of its important message but because of everything around it. Casting was perfect. The personable Denzel Washington plays coach Boone with the right amount tough and love, and the players are portrayed by a cast of talented young men, including Mickey Mouse Club alum Ryan Gosling and former football player Kip Pardue. The audience doesn’t cheer for the Titans because they’re supposed to; they cheer for the team because they have come to know and love the characters and the struggles they’ve survived.
Remember the Titans was a smash hit that pulled in people of all ages. Despite a spattering of bad language that was probably not needed, it touched people and drew them back to see it more than just once.