Glory Road Review
by samseescinema (sammeriam AT comcast DOT net)December 7th, 2005
Glory Road
reviewed by Sam Osborn of www.samseescinema.com
rating: 2 out of 4
Director: James Gartner
Cast: Josh Lucas, Derek Luke,
Screenplay: Chris Cleveland, Gregory Allen Howard
MPAA Classification: PG (for racial issues including violence and epithets, and momentary language)
It's a statement often thrown about by critics, but it could never be more pertinent than with Glory Road: No more than fifteen minutes into the screening, I came to the grim realization that I had already seen this film, in some varying form, on an annual basis for the past ten years. Glory Road takes pages from every successful film on athletics ever to have found its way into theatres. Listen to this summary: small-time coach takes low-paying job to lead an unruly, losing team. Insert racial tension. Coach teaches the boys to work hard, making them do thousands of sprints and exercises, and begins to earn a winning record in their respectable league. Boys encounter problems with grades, girls, and partying. Coach must deal with strife at home with struggling wife. But sport prevails and team makes it all the way to the championship, solidifying coach's undying relationship to the boys. Cue one-sentence epilogues for each character as credits begin to roll.
Does this sound familiar? What surprises me is that with each of these films comes the misty-eyed doting that the team "altered the course of sports history" or "became THE true inspirational story." Frankly, there's only so much inspiration I can take. These days, with so many sport films being released each year, a film must turn in a polar opposite direction to garner a solid recommendation. The American movie-going public has been inspired enough. And this doesn't mean that instead of winning the championship game, the team must lose it to stand apart from formula. No, a film must be justifiably unique.
For example, last year's Friday Night Lights was the finest sports film released in the past decade. It took a realist's perspective on sports. Parents were overbearing, respectable kids were drinking, the boys were having sex with the girls, the football wasn't glorious but rough and sometimes sad and bittersweet. Friday Night Lights respected its audience enough to allow them a practical view of a true-to-life Texas town obsessed with their players. We emerged not inspired by the film, but with a feeling closest to melancholy. Leaving the theatre from Glory Road, I felt similar to when my television goes black after a made-for-TV movie: disappointed and entirely unsatisfied.
The film follows the 1966 Texas Western Miners' climb to NCAA championship stardom at the leading hand of Coach Don Haskins (Josh Lucas). I'd explain further, but I'm sure you get the idea. It's no secret that the team won the championship that year; Walt Disney Pictures is even using this fact to publicize its film. Along the way, the team made a star out of point guard Bobby Joe, played by Derek Luke. Both the performances are worthy, particularly Lucas' powerful portrayal of Coach Haskins. And the film isn't particularly bad; it's simply uninspired. James Gartner's direction takes his film down the path of straightforward filmmaking, with fine pacing and suspenseful basketball; but we're still brought to the final ticking seconds of the game at the film's conclusion, with mounting, glorious orchestral scores and rushing fans onto the court. But I find I don't care for these Cinderella sports teams anymore. We've seen far too many of them, so that watching the final seconds of the game-clock count down is no more exciting than counting down the seconds on our watches, waiting for the film to be over.
-review by Sam Osborn of www.samseescinema.com
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