“Coach Carter” (Paramount Pictures)
“Coach Carter” is based on the real life story of a man who took on the role of coach for the basketball team at his old high school. Samuel L Jackson plays Ken Carter, a man with some unique ideas about what is important in sports. The movie shows that for a man such as this coach being right doesn’t always mean being popular.
Ken Carter has a thriving sports equipment business, but he also has strong ties to his old high school. When the boys’ basketball coach there tells him he is retiring, he asks Carter to take over the job. It is not a teaching position but only one as coach so Carter accepts. He gets paid almost nothing but he agrees for the challenge and because he wants to help the kids at his old alma mater.
The first thing Carter tells the team is they must sign a contract with him. It stipulates they must maintain a 2.3 average and must sit on the front row of all their classes, as well as do 10 hours of community service. Some of the kids balk at this but Carter stands firm.
Soon he has whipped the team into great shape and they start winning games. But as their victories pile up so do their egos. Carter learns they are not making their grades and so he shuts down the gym. This angers the school, the parents and the team but Carter believes it is important that sports be treated as a privilege and that a student’s education must come first.
This is a very good life lesson for audiences to see, and this movie hammers it home with a good bit of sermonizing on Carter’s part. Jackson makes the man determined and forceful, and uses his own personality to make him understandable.
Rick Gonzalez is impressive as one of the students Carter influences. Robert Ri’chard is also good as Carter’s son. Debbi Morgan is totally wasted as Carter’s wife. Pop recording star Ashanti is okay as the pregnant girlfriend of one of the players.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
“Coach Carter” has a good lesson about high school sports and the value of education, but it sends a mixed message about teen pregnancy and how an abortion can solve that problem quickly. It also shows that the coach is a good role model, but he does use a good bit of profanity when he gets angry with the kids he is coaching. Still the overall message is a good one and makes “Coach Carter” both entertaining and informative.
I scored “Coach Carter” a sporty 7 out of 10.
