neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Coach Carter
	Thomas Carter Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Ri'chard, Rob Brown, Debbi Morgan, Ashanti 2005		There's no quibbling with the message of the docu-dramatic sports movie "Coach Carter," or with the typically forceful performance by Samuel L. Jackson as the title figure. This is a film with its heart in the right place, even though it's hampered by a TV movie/after-school special vibe. In the real world, former high-school basketball champ Ken Carter returned to his Northern California alma mater, Richmond High, to coach the ragtag varsity roundball team and, in theory, turn it into a winner. The school is located in a depressed urban area, and the students are at risk of falling through the cracks in the system and heading for trouble. So Coach Carter set academic standards for his players, more stringent than those mandated by the school district. When Carter benched the team for failing to achieve those standards during the 1999 season, the players, fellow students, parents and administrators were up in arms. "Coach Carter" tells an unfussy version of the story, and addresses the controversy in hyper-dramatic style. Jackson's trademark righteous fury is given a workout that would exhaust most actors, and would seem phony coming from a lesser performer. Youthful thespians, some novices and most requiring a passable level of basketball skill, do an acceptable job as the players. The scenes of the thug life on the Richmond streets are merely average for an inner-city drama. It's only Jackson who aces the test.


	Wednesday, December 18, 2024





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