Great Debaters, The

Great Debaters, The

2007

Poet and professor Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington) teaches at the predominately black Wiley College in 1935 Texas. He decides to start a debate team, something nearly unheard of at a black college. While at first he butts heads with the influential father (Forest Whitaker) of one of his best debators, eventually he is able to form a team of strong-minded, intelligent young students, and they become the first black debate team to challenge Harvard's prestigious debate champions.

When the nation was in need, he inspired them to give us hope.

JBscale
76
Very Good

Film Detail

Genre
Drama - Biography
Length
2 hrs. 6 mins.
US Theatrical Release
December 25, 2007
US Box Office
$30,236,407 (#2783 of 7074)
Global Office
No Data Available
Rating
PG-13
Parents Strongly Cautioned
Brief Sexuality, Disturbing Images, Language, Strong Thematic Material, Violence

Collection Detail

Release Method
Digital Only
Aquired Format
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home
Aspect Ratio
WS 2.40:1
Audio
English: DD+ 5.1
Studio
Lions Gate Films
Released
January 11, 2011
Acquired Date
June 16, 2021
Times Seen
0 Times
Last Watched
Haven't seen it yet.

Actors

Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Nate Parker
Nate Parker
Jurnee Smollett
Jurnee Smollett
Denzel Whitaker
Denzel Whitaker
Jermaine Williams
Jermaine Williams
Forest Whitaker
Forest Whitaker
Gina Ravera
Gina Ravera
John Heard
John Heard
Kimberly Elise
Kimberly Elise
Devyn A. Tyler
Devyn A. Tyler
Trenton McClain Boyd
Trenton McClain Boyd
Ritchie Montgomery
Ritchie Montgomery
Jackson Walker
Jackson Walker
Tim Parati
Tim Parati

Directors

Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington

Producers

Todd Black
Todd Black
Kate Forte
Kate Forte
Joe Roth
Joe Roth
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey

Writers

Robert Eisele
Robert Eisele

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User Reviews

Ratings

JB Users
--
 
RT Fresh Certified
80%
Tomatometer
133 votes
RT Fresh Certified
86%
Popcornmeter
4,776 votes
METASCORE
65
32 votes
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
64,400 votes

Additional Info

  1. IMDb
  2. Kids-in-Mind
  3. Common Sense Media