Remember the Titans

Gregory Allen Howard heard the 1971 story after moving back to Virginia and wrote the script on spec, talking to both Herman Boone and Bill Yoast. Boaz Yakin then shot it entirely in Georgia, not Virginia: Paulding County High School for home games, Clarkston High for practice, and Henry Grady and Druid Hills in Atlanta standing in for T.C. Williams. The first contact the film stages did not happen. Alexandria desegregated its schools in 1959, and T.C. Williams was formed in 1971 by merging three already mixed schools, so what changed was the talent pool more than its composition. The real season finished 13-0 with nine shutouts and a 27-0 title game. The film moves the decision to the final seconds and puts George C. Marshall there, actually a mid season opponent. Gerry Bertier’s crash came on 11 December 1971, after the season ended, not before the deciding game. Most of the games pass in montage; the running time goes to the camp, the bus and the locker room. The 30 million dollar production, led by Denzel Washington, reached 136.8 million worldwide. A good fit if you want the team read through room assignments and bus seating rather than scorelines. Not for viewers who cannot surrender to the two biggest emotional beats once they know their real dates.