1000 Pushups!

Rating: 6/10 (26 January 2016)

This is the story of a coach who bucks the system to ensure that the players on his basketball team not only become a stellar team, but attain a good education to boot. It's another one of those paint-by-number sports movies with a tough-as-nails coach and a rebellious team that he has to whip into shape. The film puts the spotlight on an education system that places more emphasis on producing winning players than producing winning students with lots of opportunities in life.
It's not a bad movie, but it's not a great movie. It's predictable. You know the ending from the start of the movie. That's not a terrible thing, considering that in movies like this, often it's the journey that counts more than the end product. It's a movie full of life lessons and messages about teamwork, fulfilling your personal destiny and ambitiously pursuing goals without being complacent. The film has a good moral backbone.
There are more than enough syrupy, cringe-inducing moments to choke a horse. The movie relies heavily on sentiment and cliché to drive its point home. Every movie has the potential of really being a piece of art, but when a film relies on overused tropes, it satisfies the audience without challenging them. Therefore, the movie never feels like it's doing something new.
The movie is filmed well. It looks great. It's crisp and full lof fluid camera movements.. From the lighting to the sets, the movie is made well.
The training Carter puts his team through is rough. You feel the pain of the team when they constantly have to endure suicide runs and pushups, but you also see the benefits of really striving to be your best. You see the benefits of practice, repetition and training. The sports scenes are well-choreographed and filmed. The characters are mostly likable. The contrast between Coach Carter and the principal is a strong element of the movie (she cares less about the kids' educations and more about having a winning team). At one point, the principal says something to the effect of "Playing on this team could be the best time of their lives". At this point, it hits you that these kids really don't have a chance to become anything with a school system that sees them as simply members of a winning team as opposed to young people full of potential.
This is what sets Coach Carter apart from other sports movies. The Coach has a goal that is bigger and nobler than simply having a winning team. He cares about the kids and their futures.
The scenes with Samuel Jackson are strong, for the most part. He's a good actor; convincing, solid and a force to be reckoned with. However, a number of the other younger actors aren't good enough to carry a scene, which leaves the movie feeling patchy. A lot of the dialogue feels recycled and trite. For example, there is a scene with a needy basketball player trying to convince his "pregnant" girlfriend to work things out with him. The dialogue feels like it's lifted straight from a soap opera. It doesn't ring true.
It's an okay movie. It's not amazing. It's not a great piece of art. It's capable filmmaking, decent acting and a worthwhile, if predictable story. It offers food for thought about the state of education in America today and Jackson's performance makes it worth watching. I'd give it a 6/10.