Although this is an inspirational genre pic that pushes all the requisite buttons throughout, you can’t help but feel that rather than benching the team, director Thomas Carter should have benched a few of those ham-fisted sporting clichés instead.
Coach Carter (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:141
Fresh:90
Rotten:51
Average Rating:6/10
Consensus: Like a good point guard, Samuel L. Jackson is the clear leader on the floor in a film that critics say transcends its formula trappings to be inspirational. However, some have said the film is too preachy and too long.
Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for violence, sexual content, language, teen partying and some drug material.
Runtime: 2 hrs 16 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:25-02-2005
Synopsis: 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... 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). [More]
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Ri'chard, Rob Brown, Debbi Morgan
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Ri'chard, Rob Brown, Debbi Morgan, Ashanti, Antwon Tanner, Ramsey Gbelawoe
Director: Thomas Carter
Director: Thomas Carter
Screenwriter: Mark Schwahn, John Gatins
Producer: Brian Robbins, Mike Tollin, David Gale
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Reviews for Coach Carter
[Jackson] is, of course, born to shout things at teenagers on basketball courts and he delivers all the time-honoured usual speeches with his customary brilliance
Over long and deeply manipulative, Coach Carter should nonetheless be praised for its far-from-fashionable celebration of personal advancement through academic achievement.
Entertaining ... but you do wish they'd tell the tale without funnelling it through Hollywood's inspirational movie assembly line.
On paper a routine sports yarn. On screen, thanks to Jackson refusing to phone it in, far more satisfying than you might expect.
The clear irony of this genre is that it seeks to tell the story of a rebel in as conventional a way as possible.
If only Shaq and Kobe had Coach Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) at the helm, the two fellas would be holding hands, frolicking in fields of daisies and racking up a few more NBA titles.
Samuel L. Jackson plays the real-life coach of a high school basketball team in this solid, unsurprising sports drama.
The kind of boot-strap-pulling, tear-duct-tickling, I-am-Spartacus-crowing movie-on-a-mission that might rankle more cynical movie goers but sets hearts aflutter for most everyone else.
Treats its subject in such a neutered, worshipful fashion that it ultimately does the actual accomplishment a disservice.
When critics join in accepting this junk, is it any wonder few directors bother with fresh visions?
Samuel L. Jackson's intense, dynamic presence lifts this film above the usual sports movie and makes it one to remember.
Not even Jackson's thundering dynamism lifts the drama from mediocrity.
The movie's 'message' -- life is more than just sports -- is delivered with the delicacy of a piano dropped from a fifth-story window.
God love Coach Carter and what he's done to improve real kids' educations. But movies shouldn't feel like school, even when their subject is learning.
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