Coach Carter

I can honestly relate to this movie. I am a female athlete and all through my high school years i've seen athletes get passed because they play sports. It's mostly the guys though. We have a coach that made every boy failing a subject get a tutor. This movie reminded me a lot of him. Not many coaches put their jobs on the line for the benefit of the kids. I agree with what he did 100% and i know lots of others do too. The movie shows perfect detail of how students act in schools and out of school. I went and saw it two nights in a row and each time, i saw different things about the movie. It's a great movie and I think all coaches and teachers should see it. It shows that most athletes are passed because they are athletes, not because they have the grades.

While basketball is used as the backdrop for the movie, Coach Carter really isn't about basketball. The real heart of the movie is in the way Coach Carter begins to turn the lives around of the players on his basketball team by showing them that someone actually cares about what happens to them after high school.

At one point in the movie Carter (played perfectly by Samuel L. Jackson) asks a player why he plays basketball and he responds with "to win the state title" - which of course gets him high fives from the rest of the team. Carter then asks the team who won the state title last year and nobody knows the answer. Carter tries to show his players that high school basketball is not about winning but about discipline, respect and the confidence to accomplish any goal.

If you are thinking about going to see Coach Carter as a basketball movie, I suggest seeing another movie, but if you want to see a truly inspiring story go see Coach Carter.

I really enjoyed the movie and was actually inspired by the end of the film. The film was a little corny and syrupy from time to time but it was an overall good, positive film. I have read and heard so many comments about the morals and unacceptable behavior portrayed by some of the characters and in turn viewers bad-mouth the film simply because they do not agree with some of the behavior of the some of the characters in the film. But these people obviously missed the point of the film. Coach Carter was trying to instill values that he thought would help an entire community. The reality is that kids do have foul mouths, have unprotected sex, are faced with hard decisions (to have or not have a baby and selling drugs) everyday.

We should all be so fortunate to have the opportunity to see a movie that features a person that actually tries to deal with these issues without making judgment calls and instead offer resolutions to problems. He offered resolutions to his team's behavior and left it to them to make the right decisions. This was good because they were able to see the consequences of their actions. When they made the right decision, they were able to see the positive consequences. When they made the wrong decision the players were faced with negative consequences and had no one to blame but themselves.

The impact of a person of this magnitude is profound and if some viewers found fault with this movie simply because their reality is a little different at this moment then it was for the characters in this film is very unfortunate for the viewer. Because you never know when you might be faced with a person similar to that in the movie. You just might have to deal with this situation more personally than expected and if this happens what will you do? Because the consequences of your actions in a situation like this will be either positive or negative as well.

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?

'Coach Carter' is based on a true story of Coach Ken Carter, a controversial high school basketball coach played by Samuel L. Jackson. Coach Carter took the coaching job under his rules. He believed that the players must maintain good grades and become a united team or they would not play. All the team players signed his contract to do just that. The team was undefeated and on it's way to the 1999 State Championship, when Coach Carter received the low grades of his players. Coach Carter received national attention when he locked the gym and benched the whole team for poor grades. Coach Carter received some praise and much more criticism for his decision. This is a good inspirational movie of what one must do to excel in sports and in life. Coach Carter taught his players that they must be committed and work hard to excel. This is good movie for people who like sports. (Paramount, Run time 2:16, Rated PG-13)(8/10)