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Denzel Washington, Denzel Whitaker, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, Forest Whitaker, Kimberly Elise, John Heard. Directed by Denzel Washington. Screenplay by Robert Eisele. Rated PG-13. 123 minutes. MGM.

A real movie surprise, Denzel Washington’s stirring period drama The Great Debaters, the true story of an underdog debate team from small, all-Black, deep south college that went on to a historic win over esteemed Harvard University, brims with inspiration and genuine uplift. Directed by Washington with sensitivity and a confident grasp on multiple characters and stories, the film evokes a rich sense of history and place.

The year is 1935 and Washington is debate coach Melvin Tolson, a poetry-quoting professor at Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, whom we first meet standing atop a desk, commanding attention in the iconic vein of the great teacher-student films, from To Sir with Love to Dead Poet’s Society. He’s disarmingly direct with students and holds a reputation for radical politics, secretly organizing a sharecroppers union and in the line of fire on escalating local racial tensions.

Wide-eyed James Farmer, Jr. (Denzel Whitaker), 14 and accelerated, joins the debate team to establish himself in the eyes of his theologian father (Forest Whitaker), who advises him, "You must do what you have to do, in order to do what you want to do." His more immediate motivation is to capture the attention of aspiring lawyer Samantha Booke (Jurnee Smollett), the object of his secret crush.  Rebellious Henry Lowe (a powerful Nate Parker), a tough-minded, ladies’ man and descendent of slaves raised in swampy juke joints, experiences immediate friction with Tolson but may be the most gifted on the team. The young Farmer senses a budding relationship between the two older teammates, who do the speaking while he researches, and observes, in the background. It’s a testament to the relevance of their endeavors that each of the three became prominent in recent African-American history to follow.

The set up is pure sports competition, but The Great Debaters has a lot on its mind, using that framework to talk about racism, civil rights, the identities of young African-American men, the necessity of education and most importantly, the relationship between a father and son. The team also fumbles through personal conflicts, romantic and professional, and debates on critical subjects that are worth listening to and which shaped the world we live in, from welfare to a climactic discourse on civil disobedience. It is in this wonderfully acted scene that the young Farmer, having experienced racial tensions through the eyes of his father and coach, comes into his own.

The film features an appealing trio of performances from Whitaker, Parker and Smollett, each given interesting stories and pivotal dramatic moments to shine. The young Whitaker effectively captures a child on the verge of a young man, evaluating his proud father in two key scenes involving dangerous racial incidents—one involving a pig belonging to redneck racist who emasculates his father in front of the family; another a tense moment of redemption as the elder stands up to a the town sheriff (John Heard), aware of the example he is setting. And there’s a terrifying scene where the trio experiences a brutal lynching firsthand, and we realize the importance of the debates as a vehicle for social understanding and change, not just an extracurricular club.

It is these kind of life-defining scenes that make the film so special. Director Washington, as demonstrated in 2003’s powerful Antwone Fisher with its unforgettable performance by Derek Luke in the title role, is unafraid to let his young leading men reveal emotions, as in a remarkably simple scene of courtship in a still swamp and a young boy leaping into the safety of his father’s arms.

And while the accuracy police may quibble with the film’s minor fact fudging, transplanting the final debate from the University of Southern California to Harvard, it makes no difference to the film’s message, which comes through loud and clear. The Great Debaters, directed by Washington with sensitivity and great regard for the power of words to change the world, is a gem.

Highly recommended.

- Lee Shoquist