''Pride'' is a 2007 American biographical film released by

Lionsgate Entertainment Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered in ...

on March 23, 2007. Loosely based upon the true story of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

swim coach James "Jim" Ellis, ''Pride'' stars

Terrence Howard Terrence Dashon Howard (born March 11, 1969) is an American actor. Having his first major roles in the 1995 films ''Dead Presidents'' and '' Mr. Holland's Opus'', Howard broke into the mainstream with a succession of television and cinema roles ...

Bernie Mac Bernard Jeffrey McCullough (October 5, 1957 – August 9, 2008), better known by his stage name Bernie Mac, was an American comedian and actor. Born and raised on Chicago's South Side, Mac gained popularity as a stand-up comedian. He joined fell ...

, and

Kimberly Elise Kimberly Elise Trammel (born April 17, 1967) is an American film and television actress. She made her feature film debut in '' Set It Off'' (1996), and later received critical acclaim for her performance in ''Beloved'' (1998). During her career, ...

. The film was directed by Sunu Gonera. The film centers on Jim Ellis (

) and grouchy but caring janitor Elston (

). The two have a short-lived rivalry before becoming good friends.

Plot

It is 1974 and life is not easy for a Black man to find employment, even college-educated Jim Ellis. While struggling to find anything better, Jim, a former competitive swimmer, is working on the decrepit

Marcus Foster Marcus Aurelius Foster (March 31, 1923 – November 6, 1973) was an American educator who gained a national reputation for educational excellence while serving as principal of Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1966–1969), ...

Recreation Center in a poor neighborhood of Philadelphia. His job is to prepare the foreclosure of the Center, causing friction with Elston, the janitor whose job may disappear. The Center includes a dilapidated swimming pool, which Ellis rehabilitates. One day, Jim invites a group of black teens in for a swim. Andre, Hakim, Reggie, Puddin’ Head, and Walt prove to be fairly capable swimmers and with a few pointers, could become great swimmers. In parallel, Jim develops a romantic interest in Hakim's sister and guardian who wants him to attend school before pool. With some help from Elston, Jim decides to try to save the swimming pool by starting the city's first all African-American swim team, the "PDR team" for both Pride, Determination, Resilience and Philadelphia Department of Recreation. Once they are joined by Willie, a female swimmer more talented than any of the boys, the prospects of competing against much more experienced white teams begin to improve.However, Black swimmers are not welcome everywhere and the team has to fight overtly racist opposition and treachery, which is what Jim already experienced when he was competing 10 years ago.Throughout their struggles in and out of the swimming pool, Jim and Elston encourage and mentor the kids, helping them not only to become successful at swimming but also in their struggles against prejudice, crime, and poverty.

Cast

as Jim Ellis *

as Elston Johnson *

as Sue Carter *

Evan Ross Evan Olav Ross-Naess (born August 26, 1988), is an American actor and musician. He made his acting debut in the comedy-drama film '' ATL'' (2006), and has since starred in the films ''Pride'' (2007), ''According to Greta'' (2009), ''Mooz-lum'' ( ...

as Reggie Jones *

Tom Arnold Tom Arnold may refer to: * Tom Arnold (actor) (born 1959), American actor * Tom Arnold (economist) (born 1948), Irish CEO of Concern Worldwide * Tom Arnold (footballer) (1878–?), English footballer * Tom Arnold (literary scholar) (1823–1900), ...

as Richard Binkowski *

Alphonso McAuley Alphonso McAuley (born April 21, 1979) is an American actor and social media personality. McAuley played Cassius Sparks on Fox's comedy television series '' Breaking In'' and played Hutch in ABC's '' The Middle''. Early life and education Mc ...

as Walt Taylor *Regine Nehy as Willie Thompson *

Scott Eastwood Scott Eastwood (born Scott Clinton Reeves; March 21, 1986) is an American actor. His notable films are '' Flags of Our Fathers'' (2006), ''Gran Torino'' (2008), '' Invictus'' (2009), '' The Forger'' (2012), ''Trouble with the Curve'' (2012), '' ...

as Jake *

Nate Parker Nate Parker (born November 18, 1979) is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He has appeared in '' Beyond the Lights'', '' Red Tails'', '' The Secret Life of Bees'', '' The Great Debaters'', ''Arbitrage'', ''Non-Stop'', ' ...

as Hakim Carter * Kevin Phillips as Andre Williamson * Gary Sturgis as Franklin *

Brandon Fobbs Brandon Fobbs (born April 19, 1981) is an American actor. He had a recurring role on HBO television series ''The Wire (TV series), The Wire'' as Stanfield Organization#Fruit, Fruit. He also appeared in ''Pride (2007 film), Pride'' (2007) and '' ...

as Puddin' Head

Reception

Critical response

''Pride'' was met with mixed reviews from critics, with a 45% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 109 reviews, with an average score of 5.47/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "''Pride'' features a typically stellar performance from Terrence Howard, but ultimately falls victim to its over usage of sports movie clichés." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' critic Matt Zoller Seitz noted that the movie "illustrates the adaptability and limitations of the sports movie," but concluded that when the film's idealists glide through the water amidst the tunes of the time, "the heart still leaps." Comedian

Bill Burr William Frederick Burr (born June 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has released multiple stand-up comedy specials, most notably ''Why Do I Do This?'' (2008), ''Let It Go'' (2010), '' You People Are ...

spoofed and criticized the film as an example of the overabundance of films about white-on-black

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

with continuously lower stakes.

Accolades

Notes

External links

* * *{{amg title, id=343839, title=Pride 2007 films 2000s buddy films 2000s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 2000s teen comedy-drama films 2000s sports comedy-drama films African-American films American buddy films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American sports comedy-drama films American teen comedy-drama films Films scored by Aaron Zigman Films set in the 1970s Films set in 1974 Films set in Philadelphia Films shot in New Orleans Lionsgate films Drama films based on actual events Sports films based on actual events Swimming films African-American biographical dramas Biographical films about sportspeople Biographical films about educators Cultural depictions of swimmers 2007 directorial debut films 2007 comedy films 2007 drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films