I've only seen three films in 2006, but I know one of them will be on my year-end 10 worst list. I knew going into GLORY ROAD it would be cliched. I knew to expect rousing locker room speeches from the coach, a player who suffers from sort of illness which stops him from playing, and lots and lots of set-to-punchy-music montages. But I will fault it for its' ham-fisted and subtle-as-a-sledgehammer examination of racism, it's poor use of the charming and handsome Josh Lucas, and it's incredibly long and boring basketball sequences. I didn't care for a single character and was never roused by the athletics or moved by the accomplishments. It's just a misfire which wants to touch you, but ends up molesting you.

D

Glory Road is a very good movie, but it could've been great - Hoosiers great. Instead, the film is good on it's own terms. Of course the film was going to be cliched. You see that in pretty much every sports movie ever made. GR doesn't pound you over the head with them, and yet they're still powerful and get to the point, the one in the gymnasium before the big game being the best.

However, even though the film clocks in at 2hrs, it could've and should've been much longer. The first third of the movie is cut up poorly. It would've been nice to have had some more background information on who Don Haskins was. And even though the film handles the racism issues pretty well (The scene at the hotel, for a PG movie, along with the one at the diner were pretty horrifying), I thought they could've dug a little deeper. The film succedes enough in this area, but it could've been much more. The film also should've been PG-13 (They clearly bleeped a few lines), but that's a very minor issue.

All in all, it's a very good film, but it could've been much more.

B+

Dang it, if I ain't a sucker for this kind of underdog sports movie...

This one had the added historical drama of being a true story about the first US college basketball team to start black players back in 1966. (I wonder how that ended up affecting the NBA?) It's hard to believe that world existed only 40 years ago. So, yes I enjoyed seeing another movie about overcoming adversity - it was kind of a running theme in all three of this weekends major releases (Last Holiday, Tristan + Isolde, Glory Road)...

4 out of 5.

Enjoyably cliched underdog sports story (is there any other kind?) with solid performances across the board, a nice mix of humor with drama, and decently filmed basketball sequences. Jon Voight also shines in his supporting role as the legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp, for whom Kentucky's current stadium (Rupp Arena) is named.

B+

Clichéd as expected, but quite strong.

Oh, and all the hate that Josh Lucas gets is undeserved. He’s great in this one.

B+

Its formulaic, manipulative and historic inaccurate. Nevertheless it manages to suck you into it because of the engaging sport scenes and a (surprisingly) good performance by Josh Lucas. C+

B


I pretty much agree with Joe and Zingaling there. I was hugely surprised by this film because I saw it without any expectations and ended up liking it more than Coach Carter actually. It is incredibly clichéd and many characters are just cardboard figures, but the story itsef speaks volumes and the basketball scenes are extremely intense, probably the best ever filmed for a movie. Josh Lucas did pretty well, but Jon Voight's character was way too one-sided (great make-up on Voight, though!). It's an engaging underdog story that really has its heart in the right place. Too many underdeveloped characters hurt the film, but don't prevent it from being one of the better sports movies to come out in recent years. I liked it more than Friday Night Lights as well and only a bit less than Miracle.

B+..Great film about basketball, but it could have been alot better.