Coach Carter

'Coach Carter' is based on a true story of Coach Ken Carter, a controversial high school basketball coach played by Samuel L. Jackson. Coach Carter took the coaching job under his rules. He believed that the players must maintain good grades and become a united team or they would not play. All the team players signed his contract to do just that. The team was undefeated and on it's way to the 1999 State Championship, when Coach Carter received the low grades of his players. Coach Carter received national attention when he locked the gym and benched the whole team for poor grades. Coach Carter received some praise and much more criticism for his decision. This is a good inspirational movie of what one must do to excel in sports and in life. Coach Carter taught his players that they must be committed and work hard to excel. This is good movie for people who like sports. (Paramount, Run time 2:16, Rated PG-13)(8/10)

I really enjoyed the movie and was actually inspired by the end of the film. The film was a little corny and syrupy from time to time but it was an overall good, positive film. I have read and heard so many comments about the morals and unacceptable behavior portrayed by some of the characters and in turn viewers bad-mouth the film simply because they do not agree with some of the behavior of the some of the characters in the film. But these people obviously missed the point of the film. Coach Carter was trying to instill values that he thought would help an entire community. The reality is that kids do have foul mouths, have unprotected sex, are faced with hard decisions (to have or not have a baby and selling drugs) everyday.

We should all be so fortunate to have the opportunity to see a movie that features a person that actually tries to deal with these issues without making judgment calls and instead offer resolutions to problems. He offered resolutions to his team's behavior and left it to them to make the right decisions. This was good because they were able to see the consequences of their actions. When they made the right decision, they were able to see the positive consequences. When they made the wrong decision the players were faced with negative consequences and had no one to blame but themselves.

The impact of a person of this magnitude is profound and if some viewers found fault with this movie simply because their reality is a little different at this moment then it was for the characters in this film is very unfortunate for the viewer. Because you never know when you might be faced with a person similar to that in the movie. You just might have to deal with this situation more personally than expected and if this happens what will you do? Because the consequences of your actions in a situation like this will be either positive or negative as well.

There are many movies similar in plot and theme to Coach Carter but this movie stands well on it's own. Most of the credit for that has to go to the star, Samuel L. Jackson. They could not have found a better man to play this role. I do not know much about the coach this movie is based on, but I can not imagine anything better or stronger than what Jackson has given us here.

The story is pretty much like any other. A former basketball star from the early 70's is asked to coach this year's team due to the fact that the old coach is not able to keep the kids focused on their grades, coming to class, etc. Where this movie differs, and what makes this better than most movies of this type, is the depth it goes into in most of the players on the team. The bigger stars have their own back stories and reasons for why they are the way they are.

Obviously, judging the acting, Samuel L. Jackson is head and shoulders above the rest but others who stand out here are Rick Gonzalez, Antwon Tanner and Robert Ri'chard. Each of these guys played their characters to a tee. Overall, if you want to see an inspiring movie and feel like it accomplished it's purpose at the end, I can recommend Coach Carter to you. 8/10

While basketball is used as the backdrop for the movie, Coach Carter really isn't about basketball. The real heart of the movie is in the way Coach Carter begins to turn the lives around of the players on his basketball team by showing them that someone actually cares about what happens to them after high school.

At one point in the movie Carter (played perfectly by Samuel L. Jackson) asks a player why he plays basketball and he responds with "to win the state title" - which of course gets him high fives from the rest of the team. Carter then asks the team who won the state title last year and nobody knows the answer. Carter tries to show his players that high school basketball is not about winning but about discipline, respect and the confidence to accomplish any goal.

If you are thinking about going to see Coach Carter as a basketball movie, I suggest seeing another movie, but if you want to see a truly inspiring story go see Coach Carter.

Ken Carter (Jackson) takes over a losing California high school basketball team and employs extreme measures to turn things around.

Yes, we have seen this before: a hard-assed coach molds his players into the image he desires for them. Yes, Samuel L. Jackson pontificates a lot in here. But all coaches pontificate to a large degree and it is justified. And, yes, it is a little too long, but so what? The basketball scenes are truly something to behold. The acting all around is excellent. And, yes, this is a terrific movie.

Okay, now for the down side. Why does Carter wait until the team is 9-0 to find out his players are not living up the contract they signed with him? The players are falling behind academically and Carter locks them out of the gym until they turn things around. But, waiting until 9-0 doesn't seem to have bothered anyone. Something doesn't seem right here, but no one has questioned this aspect. Even Carter doesn't say he should have looked harder sooner. Why not?

Now, in real life Carter owned a sports store. That is probably the reason I kept seeing different uniforms for just about every different game. When some basketball game scenes opened I had to wait until Carter calls the team over to the bench to see what players were his team, and then I knew what color jerseys his team had on. Before that, the action was so fast and furious I couldn't really tell. It's not like the players' faces were widely recognizable to viewers.

This is must see movie.