It begins on the streets. It ends here. Based on an incredible true story, Coach Carter is the inspirational account of controversial basketball coach Ken Carter (Academy Award® nominee Samuel L. Jackson), who received both high praise and staunch criticism when he made national news for a gymnasium "lockout" of his entire undefeated team for poor academic performance. With the players, the parents, and the community rallying to get the team back on the court, Carter must overcome the obstacles of his environment and show the young men a future that stretches beyond gangs, drugs, prison and even basketball. Co-starring pop music icon Ashanti, "Coach Carter will have you on your feet and cheering for more." (Earl Dittman, Wireless Magazine)
(32 votes)
2.
Playing high school basketball takes more than skill, perseverance, discipline and teamwork especially when you play for Coach Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson). Just to step on Carter’s court takes a signed contract that assures him you’ll be performing at your best on the court and in the classroom. On Coach Carter’s watch, it’s not just about winning a basketball game... it’s about his team’s future.
That’s why, when some of Carter’s players let their grades slip, he chooses to padlock the gym, keeping the undefeated team from practicing and from playing. Standing up to school officials who oppose him, not to mention a town full of angry parents, many of whom see basketball as the only way for their sons to get out of Richmond, Carter refuses to back down. Having attended Richmond High himself, he has literally been in those boys’ shoes. Like them, he loved playing the game. And even though he was a very accomplished player, and still held many of the school’s records, it is education not basketball —that Carter feels led him to be the man he is today.
Encouraging others to put education before recreation, Carter wants to leave a legacy. He wants players to see beyond their hoop dreams and see a future with endless options and possibilities.
(28 votes)
3.
In the tradition of LEAN ON ME and DANGEROUS MINDS comes COACH CARTER, an inspirational drama starring Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson portrays real-life figure Ken Carter, who graduated from California's Richmond High only to return there years later, in 1999, and take over as head coach of the boys' basketball team. Unfortunately, the troubled school he remembered as a teenager is an even more insufferable place in his adulthood. Determined to make a change in his players' lives, Carter makes each young man sign a contract that ensures he will maintain a 2.3 GPA, attend every class, and wear a jacket and tie on game day. Of course, the players reject the contract at first, but when they realize that they don't have any other choice, they give in. And when it appears that their tough-as-nails coach is actually turning them into winners on the court, they embrace their coach's philosophy even further. But when Coach Carter receives the incomprehensibly awful progress reports of his players, he does the unthinkable: he benches the entire team. Directed by Thomas Carter (SAVE THE LAST DANCE), COACH CARTER is a sensitive drama that features an impassioned performance by Jackson, as well as the impressive young cast (most notably Rob Brown, Rick Gonzalez, and Robert Ri'Chard).
(24 votes)
4.
Based on a true story of the man who locked his boys out of the gym until they focused on their schoolwork, this by-the-numbers crowd-pleaser holds together because a steely Samuel L. Jackson refuses to notice the parade of clichés he's trumpeting (the dialogue sticks to platitudes like, "Success in here is the key to success out there"). Coach Ken Carter (Jackson) takes over an unruly team of Richmond, California basketball players and teaches them how to play--and behave--like champions. His plight, which pits him against an uncooperative school board and parents who've given up hope, holds some interest, but the film is too concerned with giving us a Big Game every twenty minutes or so. The teens all have the spark of life in them (including pop star Ashanti, who features in a surprisingly well-handled teen pregnancy subplot), though the film's plodding familiarity means it's never really rousing, adding up to simply a good-natured amalgam of Stand and Deliver, Hoosiers, Dangerous Minds, and even Dead Poet's Society (one of the tougher players actually recites some inspirational poetry).--Steve Wiecking
(19 votes)
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