Movie Review: The Great Debaters (2007)

The Great Debaters (2007) directed by Denzel Washington

In 1935 Texas, Wiley College is one of the few African-American schools in the American South. Professor Melvin Tolson (Denzel Washington) puts together this year's debate team. He interviews forty-five candidates for four positions, winding up with good speaker/loose cannon Henry Lowe (Nate Parker), Hamilton Burgess (Jermaine Williams), son-of-theology-professor/teacher James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker), and planning-to-become-a-lawyer Samantha Booke (Jurnee Smollett), the first female ever on the debate team. The students' devotion and the teacher's commitment bring them success after success, putting them on the path to debate Harvard's team.

The story provides a lot more than just the academic ups and downs of the professor and his team. Tolson moonlights as a labor union organizer for both white and black farmers. They meet secretly and are occasionally persecuted by local authorities. Tolson's activities come to light, earning him the label "communist" and jeopardizing his academic standing. He demurs about his political stance--the movie seems to wink and nod in approval. The movie also deals with the overt racism of the time as the characters become part of tense confrontations and witness a late-night lynching from which they have to flee. These elements build naturally into the final debate at Harvard, making it more poignant and believable.

The movie is based on historical events and plays it straight for the most part. Washington is a little self-indulgent with his character, doing a few things that make no sense and others that are rip-offs from other films (like using Robin Williams's standing-on-the-desk routine). He is a fine actor and it's easy to gloss over the flaws for this entertaining and eye-opening film.

Recommended.

 Parental warning--the movie is rated PG-13 and is on the high end of the scale. The depiction of the lynching is horrifying and fairly graphic. Some of the discussions of how African-Americans were and are treated is very frank.