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Glory Road a well-told tale of major underdog
Movie Review: Glory Road
By John Wirt
jwirt@theadvocate.com
Advocate movie critic
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Before the game, Miners coach Don Haskins ruffled feathers by recruiting many black players. Haskins then shocked the world of sports, and probably the world at large, by starting an all-black lineup in the ’66 championship match.
Dramatized in Glory Road, the Miners vs. Wildcats game was re-created in late 2004 at LSU’s John M. Parker Coliseum in Baton Rouge. These days, the coliseum is better known as the LSU AgCenter, a livestock show arena, but 30 years ago it was LSU’s basketball venue.
Glory Road also was shot at apt locations in New Orleans, Hammond and, the home of Texas Western, El Paso. With its locations, costumes and soul music-filled soundtrack, the filmmakers give the movie convincing mid-’60s, Civil Rights-era ambiance.
Details such as authentically snug basketball uniforms and horn-rimmed glasses enhance the film’s visual credibility. More importantly, Glory Road tells a good story that gives insights into the lives of its characters. In a real sense, Haskins’ black and white players were sports and social pioneers.
Playing Haskins, Josh Lucas is the fiercely resolute Miners coach. Lucas keeps his eyes on the prize, driving his players hard, demanding discipline from them on and off the court. Besides the usual challenge of building a winning basketball organization, Haskins and his team must navigate the hurdles that come with being an integrated team traveling through the South in the mid-’60s.
Glory Road depicts various degrees of racial intolerance and hatred. As seen in the film, the black players’ lives on the campus of Texas Western, while not without troubles, are relatively benign. The greatest difficulties come on the road, where the players endure public humiliation and outright brutality.
While race unavoidably shapes the story, the movie isn’t solely about racial divisions. There’s time for coach-player dynamics between Lucas and a well-cast ensemble. There’s humor, too, and the many game scenes are swift action sequences.
Haskins’ team includes Bobby Joe Hill, a star guard whose extracurricular activities get the coach steaming. Derek Luke, previously seen in the Denzel Washington-directed Antwone Fisher, plays this cocky kid from Detroit with ease. Damaine Radcliff pulls heartstrings as Willie “Scoops” Cager, a team member who begs to play even though he’s got a great reason to stay on the bench. And Loyola basketball player James Olivard makes his film debut as white player Louis “Flip” Baudoin, including a scene in which he steals the show.
Academy Award-winner Jon Voight doesn’t have many scenes as Adolph Rupp, coach of the champion Wildcats, but he makes the most of them. Rupp, whether fair or not, is the movie’s highest-profile heavy. To play the 65-year-old Rupp — one of the most successful coaches in NCAA history — the actor underwent a physical transformation, so much so he’s almost unrecognizable. The makeup doesn’t obstruct Voight’s intensity and, if looks could kill, the stares he and Lucas point each other’s way should have done both of these rivals in.
While there are better sports flicks than Glory Road, this latest example of the genre plays a good game.
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