Denzel Washington makes his point with debate flick

Denzel Washington directs movies like a man with a goal: to present stories of uplift and inspiration. Fair enough, but when the results are as well-scrubbed and wholesome as “Antwone Fisher,” the film can be pretty dull.

Washington’s new one, “The Great Debaters,” is better. Set in 1935, the film tells a fictionalized version of a true story about a debate team from a small black Texas college that went up against some formidable foes.

We watch the four members of the Wiley College team prepare under the stern tutelage of professor Melvin Tolson (that’s Washington). They slay the local competition. As his team begins to get noticed, Tolson wangles a national showdown: debating Harvard.

In the meantime, Tolson secretly works as a union organizer, which doesn’t make him popular with local landowners or the local sheriff (John Heard).

Notable among the debaters is a 14-year-old prodigy (Denzel Whitaker), the son of a distinguished scholar (Forest Whitaker). The young actor is not related to other people in the cast named Denzel or Whitaker, by the way.

There’s also a bit of romance between two debaters, played by the engaging Jurnee Smollett and Nate Parker. There’s nothing too earth-shattering in any of this, since Washington’s interest is not so much in the people as the issues.

The film looks handsome, and the debates are intelligently written. The tone wobbles a bit during the debates, as the Wiley College squad seems to violate the careful instructions of its own coach, but perhaps director Washington was aware that a movie about a debate team might need a little extra juice at times.

As Tolson, Washington works a slightly rumpled variation on his usual forceful persona, and he gives up center stage to his younger players. The one female member of the team catches fire most often. Smollett, who has an unpredictable quality — she seems to go from cool to saucy within the space of a few seconds — looks like a star in the brewing.

So this is a nicely managed story with a sturdy underdog angle. It isn’t really interesting beyond that, but “The Great Debaters” seems destined to have a long life being shown in schools and family living rooms.