Glory Road...Not so glorious

From the first time I saw the previews for Glory Road I was pretty excited about seeing it. I was, however, not as impressed as I expected after finally seeing it this past weekend with my sister Natty. I will say one thing that made me really want to see this movie was Josh Lucas with whom I was introduced to in Sweet Home Alabama where he co-starred with Reese Witherspoon. I thought Josh's performance in Sweet Home Alabama was good. His character was very lovable and animated. So either he didn't live up to his standards in Glory Road or the directing was somewhat lacking...you decide. Although I must admit, for being James Gartner's first directing gig, he did a semi-average job. I trust he will get better with time. Some of the scenes just seemed a bit stale to me and rushed. It never allowed me the time to attach emotionally with the characters; however the basketball players in the movie seemed to be portrayed by actors with promise. In addition, you will see some recognizable faces such as Tatyana Ali from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Derek Luke from Antwone Fisher, and a man you may have heard of - Jon Voight who has been in "just a few blockbusters" including one of my ALL-TIME favorites The Champ.

Surprisingly, Ebert & Roeper gave Glory Road two thumbs up. My sister and I rate movies on a 10 point scale with 10 being the highest. She gave it a strong 8, and I gave it a weak 7.

Filmography links and data courtesy of The Internet Movie Database.