Director: Thomas Carter
Writer: Mark Schwahn, John Gatins (Screenplay)
Starring: Samuel L Jackson, Rick Gonzalez, Robert Ri’chard, Rob Brown, Nana Gbewonyo, Antwon Tanner, Channing Tatum, Ashanti
Plot: Controversy surrounds high school basketball coach Ken Carter after he benches his entire team for breaking their academic contract with him.
Runtime: 2 Hours 16 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Coach Carter starts when coach Ken Carter (Jackson) accepts the role of basketball coach at a rough school Richmond. Coach carter brings a new strict contract for the players to sign, keep the standards high in school, wearing short and tie to games and improve attitude, meaning the former star player Timo Cruz (Gonzalez) gets axed.
As Coach Carter looks to improve the standards in his team, he teams the players about discipline, with Kenyon Stone (Brown), Junior Battle (Gbewonyo), Worm (Tanner) Jason Lyle (Tatum) and his own son Damien (Ri’chard) needing to accept they need to improve in school to remain in the team. This new discipline will see the team turn their form around this season, preparing the young men for real world after school.
Thoughts on Coach Carter
Thoughts – Coach Carter is the true story behind the controversial decision by a high school coach of a basketball to close the gym until his team had high enough grades to get into college. Like, most sports dramas, we get an important message about an adult figure trying to get the message across to a younger team about doing the right thing for their own futures, at the end of the day it is only a game, one you can be brilliant at, but one that can lead you down paths to a future you might not see available to you. It plays out with the idea that the street kids will need to start moving away from a world which would see them likely end up in jail or even dead, to live a life waiting for them, all with focus. It is important with how everything unfolds, where Samuel L Jackson gives a marvelous performance in the leading role. The younger cast all shine too, each with their characters facing their own problems in life, that this sport gives them an out on.
Final Thoughts – Coach Carter is an inspirational sports drama.
