MOVIE REVIEW: “COACH CARTER”
You don’t have to be a sports fan to know that the behavior of professional
athletes and society’s relationship with them is undergoing some kind of
major change. More and more, we find ourselves being critical of our sports
stars, attacking their arogance for refusing to sign attographs and
demanding a king’s ransom for playing a child’s game. We stand less and
less in awe of their prowess and stare in disbelief at their off-and
sometimes on-the court/field antics. This syndrome
seems to have worked its way down to the fields and courts of our colleges
and high schools. The
term “studemt/athlete” has become a joke, with far too many players,
coaches, parents and educators worried about what pro team a budding
superstar will play for, rather thasn if he can spell the name of the team
or locate the city on a map.
Director Thomas Carter has taken a real-life story of one high school
basketball coach who decided the system was failing his kids and took
extra-ordinary steps to give his charges a true enducation inside and
outside of the game. “Coach Carter, starring Samuel L. Jackson, delivers an
important message without sermonizing or sloppy sentimentality. This
entertaining film aviods cliches while subtly and passionately making its
point.
Jackson is Kenny Ray Carter, a former star basketball player at Richmond
High in California. After playing on sucessful teams in the eaRLY 1970′S,
he attended college and returned to the city to become a sucessful small
business owner. Contacted byhis former coach, Carter is asked to take on
the part-time job of basketball coach. The team he is asked to take on is
talented, but undisciplined. The players spend more time looking for their
own “highlight reel” shots and fighting internally to pay attention to
winning.
Carter establishes new rules, including a demanding practice rountine that
highlights conditioning and basketball fundamentals. He also requires the
players to sign an athletic “contract” . The contract requires them to
maintain perfect class ateendance, wear coates and ties on game days,
maintain a 2.3 grade average (the school required a 2.0) and refer to each
other as “sir” during practice sessions. He also asked teachers to submit
progress reports on the players and asked parents to become more involved in
their son’s progress.
Struggling against attitude from the players, apathy from teacher and
administrators and some outright hostility from parents, Carter begins to
see progress on the court, as a group of players becomes a real team.
Undefeated at the midway point of the season, a trip to a holiday tournament
in a fancy suburban neighborhood leads to victory-and a betrayal of trust.
The betraya is compounded when the progress reports show some members of the
team are failing inb class. Despite their undefeated record, Carter takes
matters into his own hands to get the entire team to work together to help
the failing players. His actions bring him plenty of publicity-and conflict
with parents who want their kids seen by scouts and teachers and
administrators who resent his fight for better academics from the players.
Screenwriters Mark Schwahn and John Gatins keep their story moving without
engaging in unnecessary emotional fireworks or sterotypical dramatics. They
build their story with care, allowing the facts to move things forward and
letting the audience make their own judgements. The movie contrasts the
simple truths Carterstands for with the often dangerous world and
hypocritical system they must deal with daily. They really do “keep it
real” and the movie is all the better for it.
Jackson delivers another commanding performance that ignites the screen
while managing to avoid the yelling that often pops up in his films. The
cast of young actors do a fine job of making their scenes on and off the
coiurt credible and engaging. Rick Gonzales, Antwon Tanner, Robert Ri’chard
and “Finding Forrester” ’s Rob Brown are particularly memorable. Carter’s
direction, like the work of his actors, is understated and very effective.
While it may remind some of an inner-city “Hoosiers”, “Coach Carter”
delivers more than entertainment, though it does that most effectively. It
reminds us that, if we are willing to set our standards high, our students
will strive to meet them. In other words, it’s not that we expect too much
from our students and our athletes-we expect too little. Expect to see a
terrific movie when you see “Coach Carter”. You won’t be disappointed.
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for profanity, milld sexuality and drug content.
JOE’S RATING: THREE AND A HALF STARS.
