Coach Carter film review

certificate_12A

COACH CARTER

There's little original about Coach Carter. The story of an inspirational schoolteacher who elevates his underachieving pupils to hitherto undreamed of heights has been told many times before in such films as Dead Poets Society, Dangerous Minds and, more recently, Remember The Titans and Friday Night Lights. What prevents Coach Carter from being dismissed as a mere case of déjà vu, is the strong performance of Samuel Jackson in the title role.

Jackson embodies the conviction and compassion of Ken Carter, the real life coach who gained notoriety in 1999 when he benched the unbeaten Richmond Oilers high school basketball team for their poor academic record. Carter's unorthodox methods begin when he first returns to the rough California school of which he was once the star player. Faced with a lacklustre team, composed of underprivileged kids for who death or prison are a more likely option than college, Carter requires team members to sign a contract. In it, he stipulates the players maintain respectable grades, sit in the front row of classes and wear a tie on game day.

Despite being met with a resounding cry of "this is bullshit," and the defection of some of the team's best players, Carter stands firm. Showing himself to be every bit as tough as the delinquent kids, he imposes a gruelling regimen of training on the group of young men, which includes his own son. Carter's ruthless methods not only bring him into conflict with the players and their parents, but also the school's principal (Denise Dowse), culminating in a showdown when he locks the gym and cancels games until the players' grades improve.

Under the assured direction of Thomas Carter, the film interweaves the story of the team's new found success with glimpses into the personal lives of the players. There's the drug dealing Timo Cruz (an intensely real Rick Gonzalez), Lyle (Channing Tatum), who's heading for the same fate as his criminal father, and Kenyon Stone (Rob Brown), who sees the prospect of college as a way of escaping the shackles of premature domesticity that loom with his pregnant girlfriend Kyra (Ashanti).