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Predictable play-by-play slows 'Glory Road'

A product of Walt Disney Pictures and action producer Jerry Bruckheimer, "Glory Road" trots out just about every cliche common to the sports movie genre. And even if you don't know anything about the true story behind the script, the feel-good ending won't come as a surprise. But what elevates it a bit above the familiar game-to-game, season-long format is the big-hearted and often humorous way it presents a pioneering basketball coach and his courageous team in the context of the racial tension and civil rights movement of the '60s.

Buena Vista Pictures 'Glory Road' B- The verdict: A seen-it-before basketball picture redeemed by its positive message. Director: James Gartner Starring: Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Jon Voight, Austin Nichols, Evan Jones, Emily Deschanel Run time: 109 minutes Release date: Jan. 13, 2006 Rating: PG for racial issues including violence and epithets, and mild language. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Glory Road'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

In 1966, coach Don Haskins (played by Josh Lucas) made history when he decided to start an all-black lineup in the NCAA Division 1 basketball championship game. And his Texas Western College Miners team defeated the all-white University of Kentucky Wildcats team, coached by the legendary Adolph Rupp (portrayed by a glowering Jon Voight).

"Glory Road" plays fast and loose with some of the facts leading up to that event. But that certainly gives it dramatic punch.

In reality, Haskins was the head coach at Texas Western (renamed the University of Texas at El Paso in 1967) from 1961 to 1999. And unlike its Southern and Southwestern rivals, the school had been recruiting black players long before he arrived. "Glory Road" has Haskins leaving his job as an Oklahoma high school girls basketball coach and going to the Miners in 1966, integrating the team and winning the championship in a single season.

Veracity aside, that helps make the movie's most important point: Big changes in American sport have often mirrored big changes in American society. And whether it was Jack Johnson, Jackie Robinson, Arthur Ashe or Texas Western basketball players, individual black athletes have had to bear the burdens of their brilliance.

First-time feature director James Gartner does a good job of setting the time and place with bouncy Motown music and surprisingly gritty glimpses of locker rooms, college dorms and jocks being jocks. And in most cases "Glory Road" confronts the overt racism of the day head-on, with several emotional scenes between the Miners' black and white teammates, and a particularly ugly incident that occurs when the players stop at a diner on the way back from a game.

Predictably, though, where the movie fails is in fleshing out its central characters. As Haskins, Lucas gets the most screen time. And he's charming, in an early Kevin Costner kind of way, mixing seriousness and irreverence. But the script never makes it clear exactly what motivated Haskins to do what he did (though in real life Haskins has never been obtuse about it himself). And while Miners players Derek Luke (as Bobby Joe Hill), Damaine Radcliff (as Willie "Scoops" Cager) and Schin A.S. Kerr (as David Lattin) hit with shots of wit and grace, more of their banter about the world around them could have balanced the relentless play-by-play.

That would have made "Glory Road" a truly revolutionary sports picture.