The Great Debaters (2007) - Movie Details

Share:

| More

FilmJabber
B+

Users
B

Rate It:

My Grade
NA

Movie Photos

Release Date:	December 25, 2007 (Limited)
On DVD:	May 13, 2008
Genre:	Drama
Director:	Denzel Washington
Writer:	Robert Eisele
Cast:	Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Jurnee Smollett, Denzel Whitaker, Kimberly Elise, Nate Parker
Studio:	The Weinstein Company
Official site:	thegreatdebatersmovie.com
Running Time:	123 minutes
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for depiction of strong thematic material including violence and disturbing images, and for language and brief sexuality

Set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow South and inspired by a true story, "The Great Debaters" chronicles the journey of a brilliant but volatile coach (Denzel Washington) who uses the power of words to shape a group of underdog students from a small, modest black college in East Texas into an elite debate team while challenging the social mores of the time, culminating with a groundbreaking invitation to debate Harvard's championship team....

Full synopsis »

Movie Review

The latest in a subset genre I like to call "teacher genres", The Great Debaters is Denzel Washington's second directorial effort after the critically acclaimed Antwone Fisher. Washington also stars as Melvin B. Tolson, a teacher who led his all-black debate team to go up against a white school - Harvard, no less - for the first time in history.

Full movie review »