The Great Debaters (2007)

Wonderful Movie

Good start, but then it gets ruined

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This is a movie that checks all the boxes for a based on a true underdog story, but it does it with superb acting, good cinematography and pacing, and powerful scenes. From what I've heard, it takes many liberties with the actual story, but the final product is still gratifying. My only gripe is the cliche story moments (especially in the beginning), but after a few scenes, the story picks up, and leads to a surprisingly emotional climax. I definitely recommend, especially for the acting.

The Great Debaters chronicles a chapter in the life of a fascinating man, Professor Melvin B. Tolson, who created quite a name for himself by assembling a prodigious all-black debate team, while also creating a stir with his radical politics.The movie takes place in Marshall, Texas in 1935 at the all-black Wiley College. On the first day of class, Tolson (Denzel Washington oozing the charisma, intensity and barely reined rage he always taps into) announces the debate team tryouts at his house the same night. The tryouts draw 45 students, vying for four positions. He eventually staffs the debate team with an eclectic rag-tag group of debaters: Intelligent-but-brooding Henry Lowe (Nate Parker), who is a randy loose cannon, makes the team, along with returning member Hamilton Burgess (Jermaine Williams). The team is rounded out by alternates Samantha Booke (Jurnee Smollett), an absolute stunner and the only female to try out, and James Farmer, Jr. (Denzel Whitaker), the 14-year-old son of the college president, who has the experience to do the massive research required for the debates. Tolson employs unrelenting, unconventional methods to train his team, which pay off in victory after victory in debates with other Black colleges. Unbeknownst to his students, Tolson writes to several white universities to try to secure an unprecedented debate with one of them; his ultimate dream is a long-shot debate with Harvard.No story works well without conflict and The Great Debaters brings it on in the second act. Personal relations become a problem when Samantha and Nate form a couple, and James – who has had a crush on Samantha from day one – can no longer control his anger over their relationship. Another problem arises when the local police learns of Tolson's secret dealings trying to help unionize the local sharecroppers and farmers, a mixed-race partnership. But Tolson and the four under his tutelage fight not only with the racism of the time but also with tensions within their own ranks, as they eventually get the coveted shot against Harvard.As is well-known, academic competitions are addictive nail-biters. When you add the racial tensions of a segregated South, you've got a powerful emotional dynamic. Enough fictional liberties were taken with the movie to make it fit neatly on the inspirational genre shelf, but it's grounded in enough reality to excuse Robert Eisle's we-shall-overcome contrivances. Denzel Washington's crisp direction and the sharp performances by everyone – giving us characters we can root for - help to leaven the inspirational emphasis of the screenplay while steadily building tension. Surprisingly, for a film about the power of speech, it's the quiet moments of rapture that say everything.The Great Debaters may be accused of being naked in its shameless desire to make audiences wince at every setback and cheer at every victory. The strength of the movie is that it gets away with it almost every time. By the time it's over, even cynics will be fighting the impulse to stand up and cheer.

It's a good film definitely but something that could have been much better. Racism is what this film is about I can say. But the debates are equally interesting. It's tough to debate on anything without having much knowledge about the topic. If we were to debate then we must have full knowledge of what we are talking about. The actors here have precisely done that, they seem to be in control of a good director and make us believe that they are fully aware of the topic of the debate.Denzel Washington is the director and also acts in the movie and I am sure this was the toughest thing to do. To act is much easy than directing, but to do both and still make it good is terrific. I am happy that Denzel almost pulled it off with neat direction.Yes, I have qualms from this movie. It's very nicely packaged but at the end leaves a void and leaves us with a wish of how much could this have been. I wish it was more about debates than about personal turmoil and conflict. There is a love story, a parent-child relationship and the relationship of teacher and students. Except for the love-story, the other things are fine. I wish still that this love-story that was between Samantha Booke (played by Jurnee Smollet) and Nate Parker (played by Henry Lowe) was not needed.It's a film based in 1930's and the production design, the art direction have worked well. They are pretty decent and seem to take us through that period of 1930's. The cinematography was just good, but I believe there was lot much scope in this film and considering that film was made in 2007, I suppose full potential of camera was not used. My biggest crib is editing though, there are few scenes that I believe were not needed and cut have been cut. The second biggest crib is in writing, I suppose that the material given was good, but not enough to make an interesting movie. So, I think that's the reason why uncalled from drama and relationships had to be added up in the screenplay.Surely, this is a good film, but some deep down thought and more focus on debating would have made it a great film. A 3/5 for a good film. For others, it's up to them to decide.

The Great Debaters is a no-holds barred depiction of a disgusting time in American history in an upsetting era of extreme racism in the south. Fine acting by the entire cast, particularly Nate Parker as Henry Lowe, an emotionally charged young black student without fear. He pushes Denzel Washington (Melvin Tolson) who teaches the students debating at Wiley College, an all-black college in Texas. Looking back from the present time, you think blacks, Texas, 1930's - this is not going to be pretty...and it wasn't.You feel the seething undercurrent of mistreatment throughout, starting with the young woman (Jurnee Bell as Samantha Booke) who arrives in town to attend Wiley. She gets off the bus and the only bench is marked - whites only. Fights, arrests, guns, violence (some direct, some implied), lynching, the whole 9 yards. Sometimes I felt like I wanted to cry, other times, just throw something. The utter stupidity of the times is shocking.I guess the film, backed by Oprah and Denzel, really wanted to show how much blacks have had to overcome, and how there were many who preached using your mind, and words, not violence, to debate, to fight, to stand up for yourself - to get ahead.The final scene involves the juxtaposition you would expect from a typical Hollywood ending. Rich, white kids facing off against poor, black kids. Who will win? Let me just say that the final speech from the young Mr Farmer will move you.If you liked Ghandhi, or even Mississippi Burning, you will enjoy The Great Debaters. The only critique is the film editing, where they probably could have shortened many scenes to bring this closer to 100-110 minutes - minor point.Enjoy.