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CNN's presidential debate guru on Denzel Washington's movie, The Great Debaters, about college oratory contests

THE PLOT
The drama is based on the true story of Wiley College, a small, historically black school in Texas that in 1935 defeated the champion debate team of the University of Southern California (Harvard in the film). Poet and professor Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington) guides his students toward excellence in eloquent expression.

OUR INSIDER
As CNN's Washington bureau chief, David Bohrman heads the channel's political coverage, helping to organize nine presidential debates. Among them: the popular CNN/YouTube debates in which people submitted questions via video to candidates.

OVERVIEW
"This film really resonated with me, especially after doing the Clinton-Obama debates. It felt like things were coming full circle: The movie took place around 1935, and now, 73 years later, here's a black man running for president and in a debate with a woman."

DEBATES DIFFER
"Presidential debates seem so distant from the film's formal debates, where there's a proposition resolved and different sides take opposing viewpoints. That structure is archaic compared with the rough-and-tumble political world. Presidential debates are more like a boxing match."

ACTING ACES
"I really cared about all three of the students on the team. But Forest Whitaker was outstanding as the father of [future civil rights leader] James Farmer. His character felt so constrained by the propriety and the times that it was difficult for him to show affection, yet he obviously imparted a lot of soul and vision to his son."

THE STAGE
"When the team got an early look at the cavernous debating hall at Harvard, it reminded me of when my CNN team was standing in both the Kodak Theatre and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library before the late January debates. We looked around in awe and realized that history was about to be made in 24 hours."

-- Jeffrey Ressner