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Glory Road
Directed by: James Gartner
Starring: Josh Lucas
Genre:
Drama
Run Time: 118
min.
Release Date:
January 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Nothing should take away
from the amazing circumstances that led coach Don Haskins to defy
southern standards and start playing a mostly black NCAA team in El
Paso, Texas during a time when the U.S. was rife with bigoted
undertones. But then you watch this Disney film and wonder what went
wrong...
The legend of "The Bear" (Haskins) lives on in the El Paso community and
should leave little doubt in anyone's mind that this great man
accomplished something extraordinary in 1966 by leading his black and
white Texas Western basketball team to the national title. But in the
hands of screenwriter Bettina Gilois, the film falls far short of
rousing entertainment.
The movie stars Josh Lucas as Coach Haskins and Lucas pulls in a good
role from this languid script. Matching "The Bear's" attitude toward
discipline and basketball basics, Lucas' performance was the cherry on
this otherwise melting, gooey mess. When we first meet Haskins, he's the
coach of a girls high school basketball team and is approached by the
tiny NCAA school of Texas Western. Hungry to advance his coaching
career, he and his family move into the dorm for the Western team, only
to learn that there's little hope for success from such a small
community with a crumbling stadium. But Haskins won't give up. He
travels around to various states with his coaching team, hoping to find
some successful players. But all of the Great White Hopes refuse to join
up. So Haskins' search takes him to Harlem, Detroit and other
less-than-appealing locales, digging up some of the best black talent
the streets have to offer. He meets with much resistance upon returning
home, too. People call him and his team the "N" word, as well as other
unseemly titles. But these taunts soon turn to amazed cheers as Haskins
leads his team to a near undefeated first season. And when Haskins' team
makes it to the NCAA finals, he starts a pure black team, something
never heard of in basketball up to that point.
There's nothing wrong with this awesome historical story, but its
execution was lacking on so many levels as to make it a yawner. The
audience is jerked from one set of circumstances to the next and they
never get to focus on one particular character nor care about any of
these wonderful kids (most viewers will probably feel fairly detached
rather than anything approaching familiarity).
Comparisons between HOOSIERS and GLORY ROAD can easily be
seen (although one is about high school ball while the other is NCAA),
and the former still rules the high cinematic ground. Gene Hackmans'
coach Dale far outclasses Lucas' portrayal of Haskins, not to mention
Hoosiers excellent cohesive story, something completely absent in
Glory Road. And this is a sad statement. Someone as important in the
racial arena as "The Bear" should have had a much better film made about
him and his brave team. But instead we get this snoozer, a lackadaisical
Disneyrama film with poor character development and shallow
entertainment. Stick to Hoosiers; you'll be glad you did.
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Image from Glory Road
DVD cost: $25.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
Former coach Don Haskins
was cast as an extra in the film as the gas station attendant.
Movie Quote: "If
we're gonna win, we're gonna have to change everything, including who we
recruit."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Glory Road
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