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Review #432 of 365
Movie Review of Pride (2007) [PG] 104 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.25
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 23 March 2007
Time: 10:25 p.m.
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Directed by: Sunu Gonera
Screenplay by: Kevin Michael Smith, J. Mills Goodloe (A Gentleman's Game), Norman Vance Jr. (Roll Bounce), and Michael Gozzard based on the story by Kevin Michael Smith and Michael Gozzard
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Terrence Howard (Idlewild) • Bernie Mac (Guess Who) • Kimberly Elise (Diary of a Mad Black Woman) • Tom Arnold (The Kid & I) • Brandon Fobbs ("The Wire") • Alphonso McAuley (Glory Road) • Regine Nehy (Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story) • Nate Parker (Rome & Jewel) • Kevin Phillips (American Gun) • Scott Reeves (Flags of Our Fathers) • Evan Ross (ATL) • Gary Anthony Sturgis (Daddy's Little Girls)
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Pride, Determination, and Resilience represented real-life swimming coach Jim Ellis's mantra derived from the acronym for the Philadelphia Department of Recreation for whom he worked and coached his first team of young African American swimmers at a time in history when the racial diversity of a swim team in the area could spell ruin for its chances to compete. It's difficult to see the film, Pride, based on his life story, in the year 2007, and not worry that as much as things have changed, there's still so far to go in the areas of national equality in the USA. Still, films like this to serve as a reminder that progress has been made and the brave persons who stood up or sat down to make a difference in equal rights for all. This is the story of Jim Ellis, charismatically portrayed by the immeasurably talented Terrence Howard, a collegiate swimmer who wanted to make a difference coaching a team of high school students. Except that the head coach of the school in Philadelphia where he was to interview, Coach Bink (Tom Arnolds), refused to hire him. So, while gainfully unemployed, a job bank sends him to the PDR and a center that was slated to be torn down. Head of Maintenance, 20-year vet of the center, Elston (Bernie Mac) finds out about the closing via Ellis's arrival as he's been hired to pack the place up. Ellis arrives to find a throng of kids playing basketball on a broken down court with no nets and soon to be no rims. He bonds with them loosely, until, one day, he discovers a pool in the center that's long been abandoned. He cleans and fills it and prepares to transform the kids into a full-fledged swim team. This comes, however, with a heavy personal price for he will have to overcome decades of neglect of the facilities and centuries of built-up prejudices among the teams, fans, and coaches in the area. He will also have to work around the students' lack of confidence in themselves to ever succeed at anything.
"… Pride serves as a useful and important reminder for the issues that should be at the heart of every person's social equality agenda…"
While the outcome of the film is highly predictable, you know things have to turn out well or they wouldn't have bothered to make such a film, the story retains many of the same good feelings as any David slew Goliath-style story. While the film is heavy on the moral side of equality for all, the core values are really about overcoming self-doubt, working hard to achieve, and team spirit. Director Sunu Gonera handles the cast well including a sizeable number of relative newcomers in the ranks of the kids, and the two sizeable stars in Mr. Mac and Mr. Howard. Bernie Mac brings a sense of comedy to the tragedy, while Terence Howard adds a sense of righteous class and emotional perfection to the complex stories. Youngster, Evan Ross, who also appeared in ATL, was the standout in this cast as the young, shy, and naïve, Reggie. There is still much to be learned from this film even in an era of increasing homogeneity of cultures in the USA. Clearly, we must not permit the younger generations to grow up thinking things were always as they are nor that no struggles ever existed that paved the way for the easier lives of those who walk in the shoes of their ancestors today. My only major qualms with the film are in the area of pace. The film is dutifully slow in stages, and way too much time is spent getting to the culminating swim meet and not enough on the aftermath of the team's accomplishments. I would have preferred more time, also, on the team's development as a team rather than so much on the neighborhood politics that further complicated the lives of the kids involved. Moreover, the climax of the film takes place off camera. Still, Pride serves as a useful and important reminder for the issues that should be at the heart of everyone's social equality agenda and is a good and moving film as well.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring Pride (2007)
Cast Members
Terrence Howard
• Bernie Mac • Kimberly EliseTom Arnold
• Brandon Fobbs • Alphonso McAuleyRegine Nehy
• Nate Parker • Kevin PhillipsScott Reeves
• Evan Ross • Gary Anthony SturgisDirector
Sunu Gonera
Co-writers
Kevin Michael Smith
• J. Mills Goodloe • Norman Vance Jr.Michael Gozzard
| CD Soundtrack | DVD | VHS |
Pride (2007) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Pride, Determination, and Resilience represented real-life swimming coach Jim Ellis's mantra derived from the acronym for the Philadelphia Department of Recreation for whom he worked and coached his first team of young African American swimmers at a time in history when the racial diversity of a swim team in the area could spell ruin for its chances to compete. Jim Ellis, charismatically portrayed by Terrence Howard, takes on the establishment, coaches a team of kids on to victory, and proves to the city that keeping the center open in the long run will be a very good idea. With the highly predictable outcome of any David slew Goliath story, the core values are really about overcoming self-doubt, working hard to achieve, and team spirit. Director Sunu Gonera handles the cast well more time on the team's development as a team rather than on neighborhood politics would have improved the film.
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