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Look for Remember the Titans to top many Christian critics' ten-best lists come January. Although two other fact-based dramas, Erin Brockovich and Almost Famous, have earned equal praise for dramatic punch, Titans lacks the profanity and sexuality of those R-rated ventures, therefore earning the most unqualified kudos so far this year.

Remember the Titans is considered a sort of victory for proponents of family entertainment; Disney stripped the original script of its graphic language to get a PG rating, and the move has paid off at the box office with $20.9 million—Denzel Washington's biggest opening weekend ever. "This movie clearly takes a step back from other recent movies in its ability to carry out a compelling story without senseless violence, sex, nudity, and foul language," says Movieguide. "One of the best movies of the year, it is a refreshing and uplifting, often humorous, look at the positive side of high school football." The high school in question has just undergone racial integration, and the football players' ability to overcome prejudice and work as a team helps unite their divided community. Michael Elliott of Crosswalk.com liked the way it "illustrates how a team mentality can overcome individual fears and prejudices. … It isn't preached or sermonized with grandiose verbiage. It is simply lived by those on the screen. It is displayed for us through these characters who grew to understand, appreciate and love one another." One such character is coach Herman Boone (played by Washington), a strong leader who uses training camp to force his players to get to know each other. Despite his heroism, he remains convincingly human, says The Phantom Tollbooth's J. Robert Parks. "Calling Coach Boone the hero of our story isn't exactly right. While he's certainly the focal character and a man of deep integrity, he's not without his flaws. … In particular, [he] treats all of his players the same even though they respond in dramatically different fashion to his harsh demeanor." Preview's John Evans agreed that "Boone's tough, demanding treatment of the players seems overdone at times. But he's [also] shown to be a sincere, sensitive man and imbues his players with high ideals." The biggest point of disagreement was a brief scene where one teammate kisses another in the locker room in order to unsettle him. Movieguide says "this is done as a joke, not as a homosexual element," and the Dove Foundation's Phil Boatwright says "personally, I think he was just messing with the guy's head." Others thought it was indeed homosexual; Elliott called it "an apparent nod to our 'tolerant' times," and the ChildCare Action Project says it's "clearly making the homosexual presence a token." Interestingly, there was no debate on the film's treatment of Christians. Although one racist parent is mentioned as being a deacon in his church, another makes her son go to church rather than meet with his black teammate, and a coach's suggestion for prayer and reflection is ignored, Christian critics only had compliments to give. Preview singles out "one remark about trusting the Lord" as inspiring, and Bob Smithouser of Focus on the Family praises the "old-fashioned respect for discipline, integrity and Christian faith."

The rerelease of The Exorcist is a different film than the one that Billy Graham denounced in 1973 as evil. Billed as "the version you've never seen," it includes 11 minutes of additional footage—including theological conversation between the two exorcism priests, and a clarified conclusion. But does the new version go far enough? Peter T. Chattaway of B.C. Christian News says it still falls short. Although the update makes clear that good triumphs over evil (the original was more ambiguous), Chattaway chides, "If God has anything to do with the demon's defeat, it's not obvious within the film." Instead, he says, the forces of good are merely lucky. The ChildCare Action Project agrees there was a "tendency to give evil too much autonomy against and invulnerability to the power of our Lord." Still, critics stopped well short of calling it evil. Paul Bicking of Preview doesn't recommend the film, but says it "definitely encourages religious discussion," and is impressed that "Catholic rituals of communion and exorcism are treated with respect." Crosswalk.com's Holly McClure says the film points to God for answers, since the "despair at the limitations of humanity is truly the scariest part of this movie." Even the U.S. Catholic Conference says that while "the movie is on shaky ground theologically … the result is an exciting horror fantasy for those with strong stomachs." (And they mean that literally—the movie was such a shock to viewers in 1973 that vomiting in theaters was reported around the country.) Today's audiences might be less affected by its low-tech effects, but the Dove Foundation warns that there's still "some pretty spooky imagery, what with an innocent baby-faced preteen suddenly spitting up green slime by the gallons and stabbing her bloodied vagina with a crucifix."

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October (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44