Directed by:
Thomas CarterCinematography:
Sharone MeirComposer:
Trevor RabinCast:
Samuel L. Jackson, Rob Brown, Robert Ri'chard, Rick Gonzalez, Antwon Tanner, Channing Tatum, Ashanti, Texas Battle, Debbi Morgan, Vincent Laresca (more)Plots(1)
Samuel L. Jackson plays controversial basketball coach Ken Carter in this drama about a failing inner-city school. When the tough, no-nonsense coach decides to take extreme measures to improve his team's poor academic performance, he makes national news. Although the team is undefeated, Carter locks them out of the gymnasium in an attempt to focus their minds on their studies, and to show them a world beyond drugs, gangs and even basketball. But Carter realises he has an uphill struggle when his controversial approach puts him into opposition with an irate community that wants the team back in the league. (Paramount Pictures AU)
(more)Reviews (2)
It is difficult to have a revolutionary script when, in the end the boys will either win or lose and there is no other option. But everything in between that is more than solid. The recruitment of the players, a bit of life philosophy, hinted racial segregation in US high schools, problems with the education system as a whole, and so on. There is quite a lot going on, and Samuel L. Jackson is just the right kind of tough, uncompromising, and at the same time emotional coach who holds it all together brilliantly. For a sports movie, it is excellent, otherwise it is above average.
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An unexpected disarming blast! Those two hours flew by, Coach Carter is an extremely engaging basketball drama, made all the more so by the fact that it is a true story. The protagonist has taken a new job coaching basketball players at a very bad high school, and so he decides to not just pay attention to his coaching role, but to try to fix the lives of his charges and make them better and more intelligent people. The perfectly balanced ratio of personal lives to basketball practices, heated games, and meticulously convincing performances, along with the as always excellent Samuel L. Jackson, make the film a wonderful one-man show for the evening that will appeal to just about every type of viewer. I have no complaints, this was a textbook drama that was not lacking in suspense, build-up and intensity.
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