A brilliant movie all round

Rating: 10/10 (28 February 2005)

In fact "brilliant" is too small a word to conclude this movie, it was way beyond my expectations. Based on true story, this inspirational picture is about a basketball coach Ken Carter (played by Samuel L. Jackson), who coached a bunch of "society forgotten" teenagers and how his unorthodox methods inspired them not only to become good ball players, but also to learn to be disciplined, to get a good education, and most important of all: To get a decent living.
And Samuel L. Jackson? How much cooler can this guy be? And are there any roles that he cannot be perfected in? He is undoubtedly the most underrated actor of our era. I have been his fan for God knows how long, and his performance in this picture really makes me hold him in a higher regard. Only he could success this role and I just wish that he will get some major awards for this act cos he totally deserves it.
I think this movie totally reflected the leak hole of America's educational sports system. Sports become so big in America that when an opportunity to play sports and earn big money arises, people would become narrow-minded and grab the opportunity without second thought. They forget that sports don't make a boy a man, education does. It's all good and well that a man has a sporting talent, he can work on that and become rich and famous. However people can take away your sporting career, but they can't do so with what you have learnt, in this case education can work as a contingency, something you can fall back on. It's good to know that there's someone who put education ahead of everything and Ken Carter's work is really an inspiration and a benefit to all of us.
I give this movie a 9/10, a must see.