The Great Debaters

2007 • 126 minutes

About this movie

From two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington and an ensemble cast lead by Washington that includes Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker, comes THE GREAT DEBATERS. Inspired by a true story, THE GREAT DEBATERS chronicles the journey of Professor Melvin Tolson (Denzel Washington), a brilliant but volatile debate team coach who uses the power of words to shape a group of underdog students from a small African American college in the deep south into a historically elite debate 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. In their pursuit for excellence, Tolson's debate team receives a groundbreaking invitation to debate Harvard University's championship team. The film is directed by Denzel Washington and stars Washington, Forest Whitaker, Jurnee Smollett, Nate Parker, Denzel Whitaker, and Kimberly Elise. THE GREAT DEBATERS was written by Robert Eisele and produced by Todd Black, Kate Forte, Oprah Winfrey and Joe Roth. MPAA Rating: PG-13 © 2007 The Weinstein Company, LLC

Ratings and reviews

I liked the film. I think both Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker were really satisfying in their performances. The whole film wouldn't have been great without the talented actors in it. Satisfying ending too.

This is a powerful movie rich of history. A good movie to watch with the youth to show them big things happen in small places.

Insanely powerful and captivating. Denzel and Forest would be hard pressed to claim their roles are more important or riveting in any other production they have done.