Reviews

It seems that a lot of hard work and thought went into writing and filming this movie, however the person(s) responsible for casting blew it.

I really enjoyed the story line. It was thought provoking, possessed continuity, and stands out as one of the better crafted movies of this genre for 2008.

The people responsible for cinematography and effects in this movie did a fine job, and the music was original and fitting.

As for the acting, Kenneth Sears was not just a bad actor in the film, but his accent was distracting and annoying making any scene in which he spoke a chore to experience. The rest of the actors in the movie delivered mediocre performances as well, but none were as bad as Sears. I felt as though I was sitting through a 1970's porn before the sex scenes started.

Living in El Paso TX waiting for friends to finish their time serving in the Army at Fort Bliss leaves me a lot of time to study local culture and history in this border town, and I spend a lot of time going to the movies.

Recently, Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer made a film based on a true story about a small time basketball coach who, in 1966, took the lowly Texas Westerns to the NCAA championship. Called "Glory Road" tells the story of Don Haskins -- the first college basketball coach to integrate his team with African-American players causing an immediate firestorm of controversy. The film explores Haskins's struggles, along with those of his team as they battle for ultimate victory.

Did you like "Remember the Titans?" I mean really like it? Because producer Jerry Bruckheimer and the Walt Disney Corporation have plowed through the annals of sports history to serve up almost the exact same story, this time taking their dubious intentions to the world of college basketball. I wasn't a fan of "Titans;" I found the film an insufferable, simplistic creation that made a mockery of real-life racism in the 1960s and "Road" simply reheats the same stew.

Bruckheimer has chosen James Gartner to make his directing debut with "Road," and the newcomer seems like an apt choice, since this a film that doesn't require much direction. "Road" is formula at its most poisonous, with Gartner mechanically visualizing the Crayola script, regardless of how ridiculous the film gets.

"Road" is grabbing at inspirational and heart-warming messages, but the screenplay is entirely obnoxious, plugging up any honest thrill of this story with appalling caricatures of Caucasians (who wave Confederate flags at the final game), one-dimensional supporting roles (Emily Deschanel, as Haskins's wife, is given nothing to play), and bestowing immediate sainthood on any black character within striking distance.

The script even gives one player a heart defect for him to overcome, just to jackhammer home the point that these guys had everything against them. There is simply nothing resembling real life in the film, just basic cable motivations and infantile storytelling that somehow lucked itself into a big screen release pattern and budget. I can't fault Bruckheimer for softening the story, but in his pursuit to make a film that has vicious mass appeal, he's bled the humanity and emotional weight completely out of this significant historical achievement.

If it wasn't for Josh Lucas's performance as Haskins, there wouldn't be anything in "Road" to recommend. Lucas has the perfect idea to ignore the rest of the movie, and focus deeply on the scorching passion Haskins has for the game. Lucas is completely authentic in the role, and adds to the electricity of the repetitive game sequences with his fiery courtside demeanor. Of course, he still has to deal with the script's obsession with never-ending inspirational speeches (a Derek Luke specialty) and grotesque paint-by-numbers plotting, but he's good here, against all the odds.

What really angers about "Road" is the absence of a true team portrait for the Texas Westerns. By only focusing in on the black members, Gartner has done a great disservice to the other athletes who helped define the team's winning season. "Road" provides the faintest of characterizations for these players, only calling them in to continually diminish their role in the team's importance, or to use them as cartoons to help underscore their differences in skin color. What a shame. To confuse matters more, "Road" closes with a real snapshot of the winning team. In the picture, we see the whole squad, standing together proud and victorious, bringing on one and only thought: who were those white and Hispanic dudes?

I ran across this movie some time ago on Netflix, and the description intrigued me. While I am not always one for subtitled films, I did not find it to be a distraction with his movie because the plot captivated me.

As many of you are aware, this movie was remade by Hollywood and released in 2006 under the name "The Departed" where it has been treated by the media as such a "fabulous" and "innovative" storyline. None of them bothered to discover that "The Departed" was a remake of this movie.

Happily, some of the classic lines such as chopping one up and feeding him to the poor survived the Hollywood chopping block, but the fabulous method of communicating secretly via Morse Code did not make the transition from Hong Kong to Hollywood.

My suggestion: if you loved this original, then do not disappoint yourself watching the Hollywood remake.

As many of you well know, "The Departed" is a remake of a 2002 film from Hong Kong called "Mou gaan dou" / "Internal Affairs".

I have to say that I enjoyed the original movie much better than this remake. Many of the original classic lines from the film did make it to this Hollywood knock-off such as, cutting up Leonardo DiCaprio and feeding him to the poor.

The method of passing messages involving the use of Morse code in the original far surpasses the method of using a cell phone text message as well.

If you really did enjoy "The Departed," then I highly suggest renting or purchasing the original. If you enjoyed the original, then I would not disappointed yourself by watching this remake.