The Great Debaters

A classic Hollywood "inspirational" picture - in the best sense of the word. It's a refreshing change of pace from the usual downbeat films this time of year, and if you put yourself in the right frame of mind, you'll find this movie quite enjoyable. It's Denzel Washington's second film as director, and he's quickly showing his abilities behind the camera. He directs with a confident, yet delicate hand, and gets great performances out of a group of unknown young actors. Yet another very solid film from the year 2007. Let me say this: I'd rather have a lot of good films in a year than one or two masterpieces and a bunch of duds.