Debate has always been a way of giving focus to intellectual ideas and measuring their merit. Those who participate in debates typically have to defend a point-of-view (one that isn’t often popular or can easily be discussed) with the person who constructs the most compelling, airtight discussion often winning. “The Great Debaters” starring Denzel Washington as debate instructor/poet Melvin Tolson and based on a true story that took place in the Jim Crow south in the 1930’s where a African American debate team from Marshall, Texas took on the best that a group of Caucasian debating champions from Harvard (in the real story the opposing team was from USC). It’s an inspiring story that lacks as much drama as it could. Often the unpopular idea is the most difficult one to sell in a debate and it also adds to the drama of the situation since we know that a team is arguing from an unpopular point-of-view. That said, “The Great Debaters” still manages to be a pretty involving film to watch because the African American debaters have the deck stacked against them before they ever walk in the door. Given the bravery that actor/director Denzel Washington has shown in tackling unusual roles and films in the past, I’m a bit surprised that the producers played it so safe by having the African American team argue for what we would perceive as the just way. ***

The other main flaw of the film is the predictable by-the-numbers screenplay which does a disservice to this important story by adding soap opera like subplots to jazz up the film as if Washington and his writers don’t totally trust the audience to come to a film like this. The characters often lack depth and while the performances are fine the kids portrayed in this film could be any group of stock students from half a dozen uplifting films. The film itself is manages to be as heavy handed as possible again indicating that Washington and his collaborators don’t really trust the audience. That’s too bad because the source material lends itself to plenty of interpersonal drama without the heavy handed direction by Washington. For all its merits, “The Great Debaters” is undone because Washington who as director is the film’s debater relies on clichés instead of a fresh creative angle. ---

Image & Sound:

“The Great Debaters” looks quite good in its DVD presentation. Colors are vibrant and detail extremely good. I didn’t detect any major digital flaws in the transfer and the print used is pristine looking. ***

The Dolby 5.1 mix sounds rich and robust and making good use considering that this is a dialogue driven drama and not an action film. ---

The stars of the film along with Wiley graduates discuss the real story that inspired the film. The 25 minute short documentary provides a lot of information but it is told mostly from the point-of-view of the Johnny-come-lately actors/director/producers involved. A full documentary using newsreels and stills along with narration would have been better ***

We also get three deleted scenes and music videos for the film as well as theatrical previews/DVD previews closing out the extras on the first disc. ***

The second disc has the bulk of the extras although they feel more like filler used to make this a more expensive two disc set vs. extras of real value. “The Great Debaters: A Hertiage of Music” focuses on the role the music plays in the film. Likewise “Scoring The Great Debaters” with composer James Newton Howard focuses on the score of the film. ***

“Learning the Art” is a bit more interesting allowing us to see the actors participate in debate camp and learn about the art of debating. The featurettes are rounded out by “A New Generation of Actors” focusing on the young actors playing the students in the film and “Forest Whitaker on James Farmer Sr. discussing his role in the film. ***

Finally we get “The Poetry of Melvin B. Tolson” focusing on two of his best pieces, a brief biography on Tolson is also included as part of this featurette and we also get two featurettes on the production design and period clothing. ---

Final Words: