Coach Carter

Realistic drama based on the true story of Coach Ken Carter(Samuel L. Jackson), a daring and inspiring coach that returns to Richmond High School in Richmond, California where he still held records from his basketball exploits. Carter accepts a little over $1,000 to work four months as basketball coach for a team of uncooperative, but heady young men. Carter has the players sign a contract to keep their grades up or be suspended from the team. When it is known that his players are not making the grade average and/or just not showing up for class; community outrage erupts when Carter benches his undefeated team and locks them out of the gym. In storybook fashion, the players left on the team bring their grades up and continue their Cinderella season to the state playoffs.

Typical slam dunks, ally-oops and no-look passes. PG-13 violence, language and sexual content. COACH CARTER stands and delivers. Worth watching more than once. Cast members include: Rob Brown, Channing Tatum, Robert Ri'chard, Antwon Tanner, Rick Gonzalez and a sterling performance from singer Ashanti. Jackson should be very proud of his outstanding portrayal as the inspiring coach.

'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)

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.

"Coach Carter" is a well-made movie, and from what I have heard it stays true to the actual story. If you're sick of inspirational-type movies, then don't go see it, but otherwise I highly recommend it. All of the performances are at least tolerable, and most are really good. Samuel L. Jackson is great. Most sports movies have terrible action scenes, but the basketball footage in the movie is actually quite believable (for example, no short white kids dunking and things like that). The movie is very realistic, and the director has gone to great lengths to make it seem as true-to-life as possible. I think it works very well.

I can honestly relate to this movie. I am a female athlete and all through my high school years i've seen athletes get passed because they play sports. It's mostly the guys though. We have a coach that made every boy failing a subject get a tutor. This movie reminded me a lot of him. Not many coaches put their jobs on the line for the benefit of the kids. I agree with what he did 100% and i know lots of others do too. The movie shows perfect detail of how students act in schools and out of school. I went and saw it two nights in a row and each time, i saw different things about the movie. It's a great movie and I think all coaches and teachers should see it. It shows that most athletes are passed because they are athletes, not because they have the grades.