Set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow South, and inspired by true events, Denzel Washington directs and stars in The Great Debaters which chronicles the journey of Melvin Tolson. Tolson is a brilliant but volotile debate team coach who uses the power of words to shape a group of underdog students from a black college in East Texas.He moulds them into a historical elite debating team who recieve a groundbreaking invitation to debate Harvard's championship team. A controversial figure, Professor Tolson challenged the social mores of the time and was under constant fire for his unconventional and ferocious teaching methods as well as his radical political views. The Great Debaters also stars fellow Oscar winner Forest Whitaker as the resentful father of a student whose loyalties now lie almost exclusively with his coach. Starring Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Kimberly Elise, Jurnee Smollett, Denzel Whitaker and Jermaine Williams.
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