CORPORATE LINE: Glory Road tells the inspiring true story of the underdog Texas Western basketball team, with history’s first all African American starting lineup of players, who took the country by storm, surprisingly winning the 1966 NCAA tournament title. Josh Lucas stars as Hall of Famer Don Haskins, the passionately dedicated college basketball coach that changed the history of basketball with his team’s victory in this time of innocence.
Glory Road stars Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama, A Beautiful Mind), Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher), and Jon Voight. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Directed by James Gartner and written by Christopher Cleveland & Bettina Gilois and Gregory Allen Howard, Buena Vista Pictures distributes.
THE REVIEW: The story of Don Haskins and his Texas Western basketball team is absolutely a story that should be told. Anyone who has read about the history and understands the impact it had wouldn’t deny the importance. Haskins went against racism, segregation, and went with his heart when he took his African-American starters to the NCAA championship.
All that Haskins did deserves unlimited praise. This was history against unforgiving odds. The problem is Jerry Bruckheimer knows how to twist reality into fantasy. There is some blurring of the lines. There is a moment when a Texas Western player dunks on the white guy—which is most likely a euphemism of dunking on racism. There seems to be a bit of a smile and wink when it comes to whether this truly happened or not. In a recent ESPN the Magazine the player went as far as saying everything but coming right out and saying this never happened. So where does other realities end and fantasy kick in for the sake of making an exciting film?
FRANKLY: The story is strong enough that viewers didn’t need all the extra nonsense to make a true story shine through. Maybe a fifteen-year-old can’t understand today the impact of the film but let’s not play to the least common denominator. Let the story, the true-story, shine through and not fill it with fiction on and off the court. Still, Glory Road is exciting and inspiring. It’s a must see for anyone that enjoyed Remember The Titans.
+ Charlie Craine
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