A college-educated African-American schoolteacher frustrated by his inability to find a job repairs an abandoned recreational pool hall in hopes of starting Philadelphia's first African-American swim team in this inspirational drama that takes its cue from the true-life story of charismatic 1970s-era schoolteacher Jim Ellis.
This movie is in the same genre of Remember the Titans where the color of the person is seen before the athletic ability is respected. Except for one section of the movie where the street boys are talking about "getting some", I would be fine to show this movie to my 10 year old. It seems like there are movies, like Click, that I would love to share with my 10 year old, but added sexual content - that could be easily edited out since it adds nothing to the story, keeps me from doing that. I wonder if there would be a market to follow the lead from the song industry that releases explicit and clean versions of the same song. Couldn't there be a G version of the PG or PG-13, etc. movies?
True stories always intrigue me so it gets pluses for that. Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac lead the roles and Bernie adds an undertone of humor that was fun to watch. The boys come together as a team and end up (predictably so) facing the same team that slaughtered them in the first swim meet, for the championship - and (predictably so) win.
Overall Rating: B
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