I always knew I'd write a review someday that would probably piss people off...

Don't believe the hype. This film is just so-so.

Yes Denzel Washington can act. A no brainer. Yes it's an interesting true story, but I can't help but believe that the hype over this film was the subject matter, not the film. No one wanted to be the one who said, "So what?"

Well here goes... "So, what?"

And other than Denzel's performance, the rest is pretty formulaic. An illiterate kid reads a book and learn's about "The Hurricane", the dedicated educators who take him in and teach him, a crooked cop can't let the past go. You've seen it all before, over and over again. It's too bad. I was expecting greatness... This ain't it.

You want to see a great true story, rent The Straight Story. You want to see a great prison movie, rent The Green Mile. You want to see Denzel Washington act his ass off rent He Got Game.

Despite the Oscar nomination for this role, I can't say this is Denzel's best work to date. Not even in his top ten.

(Remind me to share my "Oscar Nominations" theory with you sometime...)

Rent it if the shelves are cleared off of everything else. See it if you're a Denzel fan, or if it's on cable on a lazy Saturday afternoon, and your remote is broke.