Toon Talk: Glory Road
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Prior to that watershed event, along their Road to Glory, the black team members are assaulted with racial hatred both indirect (bloodstained epithets splattered on trashed motel room walls) and direct (one is bashed in a Southern roadside diner bathroom). This ugliness spills over onto their white compatriots, causing riffs in the team that Haskins overcomes through sheer force of will; this despite threats to his own family (his wife, a bland Emily Deschanel, is even ostracized by - horrors! - the other coachs' wives).
These events, while setting the film apart from its predecessors, are handled with a curious detachment. First-time feature director James Gartner seems unwilling or unable to truly dig into the underlying conflict of the racial issues threaded throughout the storyline, aiming high but catching only net. The script, by Christopher Cleveland and Bettina Gilois (more rookies), looks back at the period through today’s rose-colored, PC-prescribed views. The “heroes�? and “villains�? of the piece are as black and white as the rival teams in the final game, with none of the shades of grey that mark truly realistic characters, based on a true story or not.
(c) Disney
On the surface, Glory Road appears to share a lot with Remember the Titans, with its similar period and themes. However, it is a more direct descendant of that glossy flag-waver Miracle. Both films begin and end the same way, book-ended by a “the year that was�? montage leading off the picture and closing on a “where are they now�? epilogue. Tacked onto the end credits is a series of talking-head interviews with the real-life subjects of the film, something better suited to an ESPN Classic-sponsored DVD extra.
Toon Talk Rating: C
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In this ‘Toon Talk’ feature, I will briefly highlight a recommended film or DVD, outside of the Disney universe, of similar interest to the main subject. Hope-filled Hardwood Heroes One of the most acclaimed documentaries of all time, Hoop Dreams (1994, Fine Line) follows two Chicago students as they struggle to overcome the odds to become basketball superstars. With life constantly intervening, their hopes are raised and dreams shattered in this incredibly involving and powerful examination of inner-city culture. Directed by Steve James. DVD available from The Criterion Collection. |
Coming Soon in Toon Talk:
- “See Bambi grow�? … 64 years (!) after the original: Bambi II arrives on Disney DVD February 7.
- Curious George jumps out of the storybooks and onto the big screen in a new animated adventure (Universal, February 10).
- Paul Walker and Jason Biggs co-star in the Arctic adventure, based on a true story, Eight Below (Disney, February 17).
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-- Kirby C. Holt
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Kirby is a lifelong Disney fan and film buff. He is also an avid list maker and chronic ellipsis user ...
Took Talk: Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt is posted whenever there's something new to review.
The opinions expressed by our Kirby C. Holt, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted January 16, 2006