Coach Carter: Treino para a Vida

Realistic drama based on the true story of Coach Ken Carter(Samuel L. Jackson), a daring and inspiring coach that returns to Richmond High School in Richmond, California where he still held records from his basketball exploits. Carter accepts a little over $1,000 to work four months as basketball coach for a team of uncooperative, but heady young men. Carter has the players sign a contract to keep their grades up or be suspended from the team. When it is known that his players are not making the grade average and/or just not showing up for class; community outrage erupts when Carter benches his undefeated team and locks them out of the gym. In storybook fashion, the players left on the team bring their grades up and continue their Cinderella season to the state playoffs.

Typical slam dunks, ally-oops and no-look passes. PG-13 violence, language and sexual content. COACH CARTER stands and delivers. Worth watching more than once. Cast members include: Rob Brown, Channing Tatum, Robert Ri'chard, Antwon Tanner, Rick Gonzalez and a sterling performance from singer Ashanti. Jackson should be very proud of his outstanding portrayal as the inspiring coach.

"Coach Carter" is a well-made movie, and from what I have heard it stays true to the actual story. If you're sick of inspirational-type movies, then don't go see it, but otherwise I highly recommend it. All of the performances are at least tolerable, and most are really good. Samuel L. Jackson is great. Most sports movies have terrible action scenes, but the basketball footage in the movie is actually quite believable (for example, no short white kids dunking and things like that). The movie is very realistic, and the director has gone to great lengths to make it seem as true-to-life as possible. I think it works very well.

There are many movies similar in plot and theme to Coach Carter but this movie stands well on it's own. Most of the credit for that has to go to the star, Samuel L. Jackson. They could not have found a better man to play this role. I do not know much about the coach this movie is based on, but I can not imagine anything better or stronger than what Jackson has given us here.

The story is pretty much like any other. A former basketball star from the early 70's is asked to coach this year's team due to the fact that the old coach is not able to keep the kids focused on their grades, coming to class, etc. Where this movie differs, and what makes this better than most movies of this type, is the depth it goes into in most of the players on the team. The bigger stars have their own back stories and reasons for why they are the way they are.

Obviously, judging the acting, Samuel L. Jackson is head and shoulders above the rest but others who stand out here are Rick Gonzalez, Antwon Tanner and Robert Ri'chard. Each of these guys played their characters to a tee. Overall, if you want to see an inspiring movie and feel like it accomplished it's purpose at the end, I can recommend Coach Carter to you. 8/10

Ken Carter (Jackson) takes over a losing California high school basketball team and employs extreme measures to turn things around.

Yes, we have seen this before: a hard-assed coach molds his players into the image he desires for them. Yes, Samuel L. Jackson pontificates a lot in here. But all coaches pontificate to a large degree and it is justified. And, yes, it is a little too long, but so what? The basketball scenes are truly something to behold. The acting all around is excellent. And, yes, this is a terrific movie.

Okay, now for the down side. Why does Carter wait until the team is 9-0 to find out his players are not living up the contract they signed with him? The players are falling behind academically and Carter locks them out of the gym until they turn things around. But, waiting until 9-0 doesn't seem to have bothered anyone. Something doesn't seem right here, but no one has questioned this aspect. Even Carter doesn't say he should have looked harder sooner. Why not?

Now, in real life Carter owned a sports store. That is probably the reason I kept seeing different uniforms for just about every different game. When some basketball game scenes opened I had to wait until Carter calls the team over to the bench to see what players were his team, and then I knew what color jerseys his team had on. Before that, the action was so fast and furious I couldn't really tell. It's not like the players' faces were widely recognizable to viewers.

This is must see movie.

Honestly, I don't care about dates. I don't care about names, or stats, or if the writers got a bunch of stats confused. I mean did you actually watch the movie, or were you just looking at the screen for misprints on jerseys? To believe that some people can actually watch a movie and then complain that the time line is off with reality is beyond my comprehension. Who cares about the time line! It's not reality that you're watching, it's a movie. Movies, no matter how real the stories they are based on, are not real. They are altered. They are changed to make a better storyline.

If people can be dense enough to complain about names and numbers and dates, then they missed the big picture. They missed a great movie that actually conveys a real message. It's not about the sports, it's about the students. And it's not always about what you put in, it's about what you take out. It's about what you take away from the situation that you've walked into.

That's what this movie is about, not about basketball. It's about life, and how easily people give in and give up. It's about learning, and having faith that people will do the right thing. Yes, it's about public education, and a community on the edge of stupid, but there's more to it than that. You just have to stop looking, and watch.

This movie truly was excellent, right up there on the shelf next to "With Honors." But make sure you are really paying attention, otherwise, what's the point?