“Remember the Titans” is a sports movie that did almost everything right.

The tension was palpable: The word makes me cringe when I read it in other stories but I thought I’d try it out here to see how it feels.

It feels silly.

Perhaps because it’s close to “pulpy,” “palpable” suggests something that’s flat and stretches.

Thus, the tension was flat and stretched.

Sorry, just riffing.

“Remember the Titans” builds slowly, letting you get to know and, thus, feel close to its characters, before breaking your heart with the poignant finale.

“We Are Marshall” is a “Remember the Titans” wannabe.

Both are based on true stories.

“Marshall” is about the small West Virginia town that had its heart torn out by a 1970 plane crash that killed its Marshall University football team, coaches, university officials and boosters.

The movie covers the crash, backgrounding some of the townspeople in the process, then it moves to the aftermath and the hiring of a sensitive coach to handle the rebuilding.

Mathew McConaughey is miscast as the new coach; he gives it his best but he’s too jolly lacks the coaching charisma of, say, Gene Hackman in “Hoosiers.”

The actor seems in his own movie; little chemistry with anybody else. Except by accident.

McG’s direction plays like hopscotch - flow, break, flow, stop, flow, break and spill.

The film is formulaic, lacks emotional pull, uses Ian McShane like it does McConaughey - poorly - and flattens (is palpable?) at the end, rather than providing a catharsis.

Also, the ending is misleading.

One of the final remarks: Marshall went on to win two national championships (as shots of former Marshall quarterbacks Chad Pennington and Byron Leftwich, both now pros, play in the background).

The first thought by the sports fan: When did that happen? I don’t recall Marshall winning any national championships. Oklahoma? Yes. USC, certainly. But Marshall?

And that’s how the movie leaves you, until and unless you do the research: USC, Ohio State and their like are in Division I-A, like Marshall is now.

But Marshall University was Division I-AA when it won its championships.

Oh, you think, wishing somehow that had been made clear.

And wishing somehow that the movie had been made better. It’s a sound story.

Final thought: Has Larry King ever seen a movie he didn’t like?