The Great Debaters

Rarely do I walk away from a movie in awe. Tonight, The Great Debaters did just that to me. I went into the theater not knowing anything about the film, I hadn't even seen a trailer beforehand. Sometimes this works against me and I find myself trying to figure out what the premise of the movie is half the time and do not get to enjoy watching it. Luckily, The Great Debaters is a very easy movie to follow, but at the same time never dumbs itself down for the audience.

The movie was filled with so many great characters. Denzel Washington plays a very intelligent college professor and labor organizer in the 1930's. There was also great portrayals of a very strong young African-American woman and a bright 14 year old boy attending college.

The Great Debaters was one of the most powerful movies i have ever seen. It brought me to tears several times, of joy and sadness. I walked away from the movie wanting to educate myself as much as i can, especially on subjects i know very little about like African- American history. As Forest Whitaker says in the movie, "We do what we have to so we can do what we want to."