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entertaining u newspaper: your weekly guide to entertainment
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by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
C- Rated PG 98 min.
On the heels of films like Glory Road, Remember the Titans, Invincible and Coach Carter comes yet another sports underdog story, this one set in the world of competitive swimming. Pride opens in theaters this weekend.
Jim Ellis (Terrance Howard) is a college-educated black man struggling to make it in Philadelphia in 1973. Unable to find a decent job in the field he’s well-qualified for (mathematics) or the one he truly loves (swimming), Jim is forced to take a job as a glorified janitor at the Philadelphia Department of Recreation (PDR). Assigned the difficult job of packing up a doomed inner-city rec center, with absolutely no help from the center’s long-time caretaker Elston (Bernie Mac), Jim tries to make the best of the situation by filling up the pool and going for the occasional swim. Soon, the kids who spent all their time playing basketball in front of the center are joining Jim and the former college swimmer slips into the role of coach, teaching the teens proper techniques and encouraging them to succeed in and out of the pool. His instruction pays off and the kids become a team determined to show the rest of the city what they can do. Their quest for greatness, however, does not go unhindered as a local drug dealer (Gary Anthony Sturgis) and a racist rival coach (Tom Arnold) stand firmly in their way.
Pride is loosely based on the career of James O. Ellis III, an African-American swim coach and mentor who has been bringing diversity to the sport for 35 years. While the film’s timeline isn’t entirely accurate, the basics are about right. Ellis started an all-black swim team in 1973 that did go on to earn several titles and send many young people to Olympic-qualifying meets. Today, Ellis is still coaching PDR, which has, over the years, become a strong, racially diverse team that continues to inspire the community. Most recently, Jim received the International Swimming Hall of Fame President’s Award for his contributions to the sport and is traveling the country speaking about his experiences.
There’s no doubt that Jim Ellis’s real story and the Hollywood version are inspirational. Still, the film leaves a lot to be desired. A lot of artistic license was used when crafting the script and it shows. The idea that these kids, who could barely swim to begin with, going on to dominate in the field in a matter of months is preposterous. In reality, it took Ellis years to get his kids in shape to compete and a couple more years for them to actually win. Facts aside, the plot is extremely formulaic. Before the lights dim you know how this one will end. There were even times when one could correctly predict the next line a character would utter. With a half a dozen of these underdog tales coming out every year, it’s getting increasingly difficult for moviegoers to get anything out of it. It’s like having the same amazing pasta dish every night for a month straight. After a while you don’t care how good it tastes, you just want something new.
Adding to Pride’s problems are erroneous characters that, not only have no base in Ellis’s reality, but basically serve as filler. The neighborhood dealer, played by Sturgis, is basically an overblown cartoon character, as is the exceedingly prickly Elston (Mac). Both of these characters are dispensable, adding little to the film beyond laughs and a recognizable name to add to the poster. Their performances are over-the-top, no doubt the fault of the script rather than their own capabilities. The acting is decent among the teens and Terrance Howard is, as always, quite good. Unfortunately, this high point does little to overshadow Pride’s flaws.
Despite everything that’s wrong with this film, it does entertain in a very basic way. People love their sports movies and seeing an underdog win, even if you know from a mile away that it’s coming, will make them stand up and cheer every time. The audience I attended the screening with was no exception. Even if it didn’t really make sense, even though the main villain was a trivial threat, even though it has little in common with Ellis’s life, the story affected the audience, which is always the greatest measure of a film’s success, at least in the minds of those who care little about box office returns. Will Pride make a killing this weekend? I doubt it. But those who can’t get enough of David and Goliath tales will get their moneys worth.
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