Are you ready

for more football ?

The Disney

film "Remember the Titans," which opens in theaters this Friday,

is based on the true story of the first Virginia football team to be racially

integrated.

The team, the

T.C. Williams High Titans, fought internal and external prejudices and

discrimination on their way to an undefeated season.

Though set

in Alexandria, Va., "Remember the Titans" was filmed entirely

in Georgia toward the end of 1999. Viewers will be able to recognize areas

in Marietta, Stone Mountain, Covington and Atlanta and possibly even some

of their friends and neighbors who played extras in the film.

The film, directed

Boone, the man chosen to lead the newly integrated team, and Will Patton

as Coach Yoast, the coach he replaces. Yoast must deal with being an assistant

to Boone after having several successful years with the all-white team.

As the season

goes on, the two men learn that they have more than football in common

and the forging of their friendship parallels the coming together of the

team and the town. Both Washington and Patton are excellent in the film,

portraying the right amount of intensity and integrity to their roles

during such a volatile time in America's past.

Things start

off rocky for the Titans. The white members of the team do not want to

have to compete with the black boys for positions, while the black members

have never been treated well by the white boys and don't expect this situation

to be any different. Boone takes no guff from the beginning and gets them

ready for the season with a grueling training camp.

The film was

produced by Jerry Bruckheimer ("Armageddon," "Top Gun")

and, let's face it, the man knows action. The football scenes are impeccable.

They are shot masterfully and the sound of the hits are booming. Many

times during the film audience members cringed as quarterbacks were sacked

and amazing plays were made. The main difference between this movie and

the rest of Bruckheimer's films, though, is this movie has a message and

a heart, neither of which are contrived or forced.

Another key

difference is that the players are not stereotypes such as the bad boy,

the fat guy, the funny guy. They are high school students in the 1970s

and they act that way. Their chemistry is wonderful and one believes this

team could have success. Perhaps it is because it is a true story and

most of the team is still alive.

In fact, the

only drawback is that because it is a true story, you know how the movie

is going to end. While the movie remains suspenseful, it is only to see

how the team accomplishes its goal.

One of the

best things about the film is Hayden Panettiere, the little girl who plays

Coach Yoast's daughter, Cheryl. She is a football-loving maniac who is

dedicated to her father and the team. Panettiere brings comic relief to

what can sometimes be a heavy story, as well as bringing a child's perspective

to the racial integration of the early 1970s.

It is amazing

to see how far we, as a society, have come together racially since the

1970s, but the film works because we also see how much further we have

to go.

"Remember

The Titans" is a great film that certainly has its sights on an Academy

Award. It may not get there but it has a lot of fun trying. The film is

Rated PG, is appropriate for the entire family and is 113 minutes long.

Enjoy.

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