I mentioned this movie’s similarity to Hoop Dreams thematically. It also reminds me of Remember The Titans, and I was thus not surprised to see that, after I watched this, Remember The Titans was the next movie Disney Plus recommended.
Although I liked Titans, I thought this was even better. Part of my issue with Titans was that I found the Herman Boone character full of himself.*
Yet Glory Road did not do business at all comparable to that of Remember The Titans, and that may entirely be due to Josh Lucas lacking Denzel Washington’s box office prowess, to say the least.
Lucas is an interesting example of how the road to (lack of) stardom. After spending a decade right out of high school paying his dues with bit roles here and there, in the early 2000s he got significant supporting parts in some notable indie movies (American Psycho, You Can Count On Me and The Deep End), followed by significant supporting parts in some notable big movies (A Beautiful Mind, Sweet Home Alabama, and Hulk). He consistently knocked it out of the park with his performances, despite how different the characters were, and he’d thus now earned his chance to be an A-list star.
Hollywood rewarded him with the lead role in three major movies – Stealth, Glory Road, and Poseidon. Unfortunately, all three bombed, and it was back to Lucas being the poor-man’s Matthew McConaughey as the industry hoped for more luck with the next fresh-faced leading man. The only thing I’ve seen Lucas in since then was, ironically, as McConaughey’s opponent in The Lincoln Lawyer a half-decade later – and he certainly was not billed above the title anymore!
Ha, got this picture from an article about “15 Stars Who Were Going To Be The Next Big Thing…But Vanished”
In fact, a similar actor who took a similar path to stardom but maintained it is Bradley Cooper. That “Want, Settle, Get” game I’ve often heard casting directors play works perfectly here: Want Bradley Cooper, Settle for Matthew McConaughey, Get Josh Lucas. You could switch the first two, but certainly can’t switch either with the third.
Too bad. I at least wish this starring vehicle of his had been a hit.
Based on a true story (and hopefully more faithfully adapted than Titans) and set in the 1960s, this movie features Lucas as Don Haskins, a high school girls’ basketball coach brought to coach at a college that can give scholarships but is really hard-up for funds. Determined to put a championship team on the court, Haskins and his assistant scour the country for talented black players who have not been recruiter due to overt racism and the lack of good education provided to them. While the first ever all-black starting lineup in the NCAA raised eyebrows, and the team faces harrowing bigotry, Haskins knows the best way to silence critics is to just defeat everyone in game after game. He doubles down on the tough love, knowing intestinal fortitude in his players is particularly important in a situation like this. The players, in turn, do a remarkable job, and you are completely gripped as they pursue the national championship.
Great job by all involved, both in the story and in the making of the film.
Bottom Line: Very underrated.
Up Next: Small town, small movie.
*Didn’t surprise me to find out he was a garbage human being in real life.
Questions? Comments? Feel free to write below.
%
Recent Comments