The Great Debaters Critic Reviews

This is a film that is affirming and inspiring and re-creates the stories of a remarkable team and its coach.Read the full review

Ultimately an uplifting movie because it is about triumph.Read the full review

For a film about the power of speech, it's the quiet moments of rapture that say everything.Read the full review

An edifying and forthright drama that aims to create a lump in the throat, and succeeds.Read the full review

The Great Debaters is like one of those sentimentally revved youth-sports-team crowd-pleasers. This time, though, the sport is debating, and the setting is an elite black college in Marshall, Tex., in 1935Read the full review

Because it is so old-school Hollywood, with a weakness for standard moments and pat situations, The Great Debaters initially comes off as easily dismissible. Largely saving it from that fate is the presence and ability of Denzel Washington, who costars with Forest Whitaker and directs from Robert Eisele's script.Read the full review

Tailor-made for maximum inspirational, historical and educational impact, The Great Debaters shines a bright spotlight on a remarkable example of black achievement long forgotten in the sorry history of the Jim Crow South.Read the full review

An earnest drama about the search for self-esteem and sense of responsibility among young black people that successfully relies on its fine actors.Read the full review

It's a great family movie, if not historically perfect, and something that a lot of people are going to like.Read the full review