An inspiring sports film

Rating: 8/10 (4 August 2005)

Coach Carter is another film in association with MTV. But instead of being a film on rap or wild parties, Coach Carter is a drama and sports film dealing with a true-story. Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) is a local sports store owner and a basketball fan of local Richmond High School team. After a friend asks him to coach, Ken accepts the job.
The players are rebellious, they're crude, and they're violent. Coach Carter enacts a strict regime of strenuous workouts and requirements in the class room. The players are able to warm up to him and begin to have a great season before the class room reports come in. His players are failing miserably and it leads to the ultimate decision, benching every single one of them.
Carter does this in order to put the players school work first and the move is meet with hostility. Players quit and parents and fans become hostile enough to call for his removal. As the lockout continues, players begin to realize that coach is doing this for there benefit and that he still has hope for them in the poor community. Now the only questions is will the players follow along with his lockout or cry in unison for his removal?
As I said earlier this is based on a true story and is told beautifully. It brings back the old sense of sports movies such as Hossiers and Remember the Titans. Samuel L. Jackson is able to bring the Coach Carter to life with a loving personality but a near-brutal view to the game. The film influenced me greatly to work harder in school and did the same for many other people I know.
The film conveys a powerful message of hope and understanding. The film presents teenagers on how they actually are; not in a bad way just in the usual smart-ass way. Each actor portraying a player, especially Rick Gonzalez and Antwon Tanner, is excellent in there own way. The films plot goes over nicely and the story flows well.
The basketball scenes are filmed with great care and right on in accuracy. The film was very good. Just a notch below Hoosiers but conveys the same great message.
Coach Carter. Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Rob Brown, Rick Gonzalez, Robert Ri'chard, and Antwon Tanner.
4 out of 5 Stars.