“Pride” (Lionsgate)
The Underdog Succeeds One More Time
Hollywood is at it’s best when it is making the “Rocky”/”Hoosiers”/”Rudy” type of movies. These movies are always sure to put a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye. And that is certainly what “Pride” does with its “based on truth” story about a swim team from a low income area beating the odds to become champions.
Jim Ellis (Terrence Howard) is a man looking for a job, any job. What he gets is a chance to work at a recreation center while it is waiting to be closed. In other words this is not a long term, permanent position. The only other person working at the center is a maintenance man named Elston (Bernie Mac) and he is very upset the center is going to be closed.
The local councilwoman, Sue Davis (Kimberly Elise), says the reason it is being closed is that the kids in the neighborhood don’t use it any more. If they used it, then it would stay open. This gives Jim Ellis an idea. He opens up the swimming pool and coaxes some kids into starting a swimming team. He has had some experience in his high school and college career as a swimmer so he knows a little about the sport.
His biggest supporter from the start is Elston. He is his “assistant” and his biggest cheerleader. Eventually Sue Davis and the rest of the community come around too. But when the kids go up against a privileged private school swim team, even the most loyal supporters have their doubts.
Terrence Howard is a very talented actor. He can be tough and he can be tender, and he is believable whatever he is portraying. Plus nobody cries on camera like he does. Those tears just seem to drip from his eyes.
Bernie Mac is always fun to watch and he can add comic relief just by the looks on his face. He is a good addition to this film, as is Tom Arnold. Arnold plays the bigoted head of the private school. He has come a long way as an actor and his obnoxious character is perfectly played.
The film is rated PG and this is a mild rating for a movie that has as much profanity in it as this one does.
The “overcoming all obstacles” theme is always a good one but in this film the plot development is a little weak. It would have helped if we could have known the kids on the team just a little better or maybe even had more insight into the mind of Ellis. Still the heart behind the story is enough to make it better than average.
I scored “Pride” a proud 6 out of 10.
