Starring: Denzel Washington
This wonderful film tells the true story of African American football coach Herman Boone, who is assigned the job of coaching a high school football team in 1970s racially segregated Virginia. Two teams, from a white and a black school, are brought together to make the first racially integrated high school football team. Major themes include racism, community and even identity, as the white players in the team struggle with their prejudices against the black players.
I thought this film was exceptionally well done. It wasn’t only Washington’s acting that made it so moving and engaging, but the acting of the teenage players too, who played their roles very well. Viewers are brought to sad tears when the characters experience horrific acts of racism and subsequent injustice, and happy ones when the team wins multiple well-deserved victories.
