Coach Carter
Review by Jason Donner
It seems that I, far too many times, have editorialized my disdain for
high school athletic programs and their over-importance in the lives
of students and in the eyes of parents and teachers. I've said over
and over again, that kids are continually cheated out of an education
because they're basically tricked into thinking that the ability to
run and throw a ball around will be able to get them farther than the
ability to perform algebra or know history. It's no wonder that it
seems like this country is breeding a generations of idiots.
Well, I'm not
going to editorialize in this review... well... besides what I wrote
in the paragraph above. Let's just say that I'm taking a certain giddy
pleasure from watching Coach Carter and its message that
basically reaffirms what I've been saying for years. Education first,
sports second.
Coach Carter is a true story - probably nothing like what
really happened, but who am I to bother and really research things?
The movie tells the story about a coach who comes to lead the
basketball ball team of an inner city. The kids on this team are
tough, disrespectful, and losers on the court because of it, but Coach
Carter changes all that and turns them into winners. However winning
on the court isn't enough, so when the grades of many of his team goes
into the crapper, he cancels practice and any games that come up
telling his kids to hit the books.
In a way, Coach Carter is the story about getting your act
together, accepting responsibility, and setting your priorities
straight. This should be a movie that they should be required to show
real coaches all over the United States.
Granted, this is hardly the most original movie that has come along.
Its plot stinks of recycled elements and the After School Special feel
of the story itself. There's also many, many, many clichéd elements of
inner city counter culture trotted across the screen like some kind of
strange parade. What sets Coach Carter apart is the star,
Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson carries this movie comfortably on his
shoulders and plays one of the best parts I've seen him take on in
years. He makes Coach Carter a human being and not the hard-ass
authority figure he might have been. Jackson is Coach Carter's heart
and he gave him a soul.
Although this movie may get overly preachy at times, the sermonizing
of Samuel L. Jackson is never boring to listen to. I liked this movie,
I agree with the message, and I applaud the delivery. Coach Carter
is a winner on and off the court and, if you've got it in your head
that basketball, football, track, or whatever is the most important
thing of your educational experience, give this movie a look and think
really long and hard about what you're going to do when you leave the
playing field one last time.