With lines of escape in my mouth » denzel washington

The Great Debaters

admin — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 07:02:33 +0000

Apparently in the 1930s, black people in the southern US weren’t liked all that much by the whiteys. Hard to believe isn’t it? Thankfully they’ve come a long way since then. They have, right?? The Great Debaters is based on the true story of Wiley College in Texas, a school for black people, which was the first to take part in a debate against a white college.

It’s a nice story and there are some very good performances, particularly from Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker as you’d expect. It tries to be an inspirational and emotional tale but to me it felt like a poor version of Dead Poet’s Society. 5 crumbs out of 10.

American Gangster

admin — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 02:59:29 +0000

Billed as a gangster epic, this film came as something of a disappointment. It seemed more like a summary of the important points in the lives of the two main characters rather than the detailed biopic it could have been. It’s still enjoyable enough as it is though.

Set mainly in 1970s New York, it’s beautifully shot and the performances are excellent, as you’d expect from Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. The way the story develops and concludes is very reminiscent of the first season of The Wire. Since that’s the greatest TV show ever, it’s certainly not a bad thing. If you’re gonna steal, you might as well steal from the best.

Overall, I give it 4 crumbs out of 10.