MOVIE REVIEW ON COACH CARTER

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Ashanti, Rick Gonzalez, Rob Brown, Antwoin Tanner, Debbi Morgan, Robert Ri’chard, Nana Gbewonyo, Channing Tatum
Directed by Thomas Carter
Produced by Michael Tollin, Brian Robbins, David Gale
Written by Mark Schwahn, John Gatins

Based on the true story of Coach Ken Carter, a controversial high school basketball coach played by Samuel L. Jackson. He is an ex-high school basketball player and sports store owner who is asked to coach the high school basketball team the Richmond Oilers his old high school in a poor area of Richmond, California, where he was a champion athlete before. The story of an inspirational schoolteacher who elevates his underachieving pupils to hitherto undreamed of heights. 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. Coach Carte slowly begins to turn the team from inner city losers into student athletes.

Faced with a lackluster team, composed of underprivileged kids for who death or prison are a more likely option than college as much dismayed by the poor attitudes of his players as well as their dismal play performance, Carter sets about to change both. He immediately imposes a strict regime typified in written contracts that include stipulations for respectful behaviour and a dress code where the players have to wear a tie on game day. He also stipulates the players to maintain respectable grades of 2.3 and sit in the front row of classes. Other than that, he wants the team to become a united team or they would not play. 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 grueling regimen of training on the group of young men, which includes his own son, Damien Carter. Key word: student. Carter’s rigorous workout routine not only stretches the boundaries of the human body but also the mind.

Under Carter's inspirational guidance, the team goes on to win every one of their games and the community rallies behind them. The team becomes an undefeated competitor in the games and on its way to the 1999 State Championship. However, when the overconfident team's behaviour begins to stray and Carter received their low grades, he learns that too many players are doing poorly in class. He takes immediate action. To the outrage of the team, the school and the community, Carter cancels all team activities and locks the court until the team shows acceptable academic improvement. This angers both the parents and the school officials, but Carter refuses to back down. He 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. In the ensuing debate, Carter fights to keep his methods, determined to show the boys that they need to rely on more than sports for their futures even though the parents said that grades are not as important as the sport is. He wants the Oilers be the winners both on and off court and eventually he finds out that he had affected them more profoundly than he ever expected. Carter's ruthless methods not only bring him into conflict with the players and their parents, but also the school's principal , culminating in a showdown when he locks the gym and cancels games until the players' grades improve.

In addition, 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, a rebellious teenager whose initial dismissal from the team leads to him hanging out with the local gang members, Lyle, who's heading for the same fate as his criminal father, and Kenyon Stone, who sees the prospect of college as a way of escaping the shackles of premature domesticity that loom with his pregnant girlfriend Kyra.

Watch it to know what happens next! You can download it in dc++ if you want or come to me to get a copy of it...