Oh, those spunky kids, Take 2: "Remember the Titans"

I'm a little overdue for seeing this. Didn't realize until I saw My Name is Earl's brother how long ago it came out: 2000. Nine years later, it's a bit jarring to see Ryan Gosling and Kate Bosworth -- not to mention Kip Pardue, the cheerleader from "Heroes" and Avon Barksdale from "The Wire" -- as part of the young ensemble. It was almost enough to make me stop worrying about when Will Patton would flip out like in "No Way Out." Seriously ... that movie pretty much ruined him for me.

Patton is coach of a white Virginia high school that merges with a black school in the early '70s. Denzel Washington ("Carbon Copy") was hired to coach the black school and get the job of leading the merged team. So how do you think folks will handle integration? Tea parties and Twister games all around, right?

As you can guess, the players aren't keen at first about getting together, and Patton isn't so hot about losing his job. But that Denzel ... he's a sly one. He stays on everyone and mixes things up until -- ta-daaaa! -- we can all get along. Didn't see that one coming.

Predictable though it may be, there are some decent scenes about the tension and how folks get over themselves. Superficial? Yeah, mostly. But nice all the same. Ryan Hurst as the star of the white school's team is front and center, and generally does OK. His stubbornly racist pal is harder to swallow, but I suppose you gotta have that guy so it's not a total lovefest.

As for the adults, the supporting roles are simple caricatures. The two leads? Denzel has done better, many times. But he's fine here. Even restrained, which is good. Of course, nobody can outrestrain Patton, who barely opens his mouth to talk and keeps cool pretty much the whole movie. The dynamic between the coaches worked all right, but neither guy can hold a candle to Gene Hackman in "Hoosiers." Maybe if Patton had loosened up and knocked back a few like Shooter ...