With Coach Carter, A New Kind of Winning ****

Rating: 10/10 (13 May 2014)

Samuel L. Jackson was in top form as the new high school basketball coach who had the foresight to see beyond the arena and strive for academic achievement among his difficult group within a very difficult school.
Jackson takes over the team and immediately instills discipline and a contract advocating academic attainment before basketball may be played. When the team members fail to live up to their bargain academically, Carter cancels practice and allows his winning team to begin forfeiting games.
Naturally, this meets with community opposition. Loud mouth parent Octavia Spencer is wonderful here as a mother who sees only basketball as an opportunity for her son to grow.
The point is driven home as the team comes around to Carter's standards.
Excellent film getting away from the notion about students attaining academic scholarships in sports when they are so deficient in academic areas.