 COACH CARTER
MPAA Rating:
 for violence, sexual content, language, teen partying and some drug materialReviewed by: Shannon Hammell Average
Moviemaking Quality:
 ½Primary Audience:
Adults, Teens
Genre:
Drama, Sports
Length:
2 hr. 14 min.
Year of Release:
2005
     Relevant Issues
  It begins on the street. It ends here. Producer’s Synopsis: “Inspired by true-life story of controversial high-school basketball coach Ken Carter, who received both high praise and staunch criticism when he made national news in 1999 for benching his entire undefeated basketball team for poor academic performance.” Review There are always movies that truly inspire us and touch the depths of our hearts, especially if they’re based on true stories. The typical underdog-sports-team stories are usually the ones that make us think about life’s challenges and what we can do to overcome them. “Coach Carter” is no different. The film takes place in an inner-city neighborhood in California , inhabited primarily by African-Americans. The high school basketball team of Richmond High School has won only four games the past season due to discipline issues and the troubled lives of the players. Richmond’s graduation record is only 50% and out of that 50%, only 6% go to college. Sex, drugs, and gangs plague the lives of the young high school kids and the high school has done nothing to encourage academic studies. Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson), an owner of a sports equipment shop, decides to take up the position of coaching Richmond’s pathetic basketball team, hoping to inspire and discipline the troubled youths. In fact, he had attended Richmond High 30 years ago, setting several school records in passing and shooting. At first, the kids on the team are taken aback by Coach Carter’s strict discipline (the players have to sign a contract in order to stay on the team by wearing a shirt and tie on game day, sitting in the front of class, and maintaining a 2.3 GPA), however, they warm up to him and soon their team becomes undefeated in the league. Still, the kids on the team have their troubles. Two of the star shooters, Kenyon (Rob Brown) and Sam (Jason Sweet), both have problems. Kenyon has trouble with his grades and Sam is in hot water with his girlfriend (who just got pregnant by him). Another kid, Timo Cruz (Rick Gonzalez) a.k.a “Cruz,” is involved in gang life and is seen carrying a 9 mm. shotgun in a couple of scenes. The only kid on the team who is well-rounded is Damien (Robert Ri’chard), Coach Carter’s son, who is an overachiever with a 3.5 G.P.A. Despite their new-found excellence on the basketball court, Coach Carter’s team still has trouble maintaining the 2.3 G.P.A mark. In order to keep his kids focused academically, he locks down the gym and cancels games and practices until the team keeps their grades up, much to the dismay of the general public and school officials. The film is rated PG13, but it is a little too risqué for the high school crowd. The sexual content is moderate but disconcerting. While cheerleaders for other high schools wear modest uniforms, the cheerleaders for Richmond High School look like street walkers, wearing spandex mid-driffs, short skirts, and leather knee-high boots. One of the high school students fools around with his girlfriend (they are both clothed). The basketball team is seen taking showers, wearing nothing but towels in the locker room. Teen-agers dance suggestively at a school-sponsored dance (think gyrating hips). The basketball team is invited to a party where they sit in a hot tub with girls all while under the influence of alcohol (the guys strip to their boxers and the girls strip to their bras and underwear). In the same scene, one teammate is seen from a balcony wearing nothing but a towel, indicating he may have slept with someone. The violence is quite mild except for a gang shooting where Cruz’s cousin is shot. The violence is also moderate. We see a fake holdup by Cruz trying to play a joke on his teammates. Cruz’s cousin gets fatally wounded by a gang member. We also see someone breaking into Coach Carter’s sports equipment store by a gang. In fact, gang life permeates the livelihood of Cruz, a member of the Richmond basketball team (he is seen getting paid for his work in a gang). There is a lot of cussing. The s-word is used quite frequently as well as G*D. Coach Carter chastises his charges for using the word “n*****,” saying it is disrespectful to their ancestors but has no problem using words like d*** and a**. One of the teammates (on meeting their new coach for the first time) asks Carter if he’s a preacher (in a disrespectful manner). However, there are deep moral issues in the film. The sexual and violent content is not condoned in the movie. One teammate and his girlfriend talk about the responsibility of their actions as soon as she admits she’s pregnant (unfortunately she ends up aborting her child). Cruz witnesses the murder of his cousin and immediately wants out of gang life. After leaving twice he arrives on Coach Carter’s doorstep in the middle of the night (in tears from watching his cousin get shot), begging to be let back into the team. Carter immediately welcomes him with open arms. From this scene, I saw an allusion to the Prodigal Son parable where Jesus talks about how man strays away from God and once man realizes that he can’t make it on his own he comes to God. When Cruz chose a lifestyle of crime and realized that wasn’t what he wanted, he chose to suck up his pride and come back to his team and his coach. Another Biblical reference I saw in “Coach Carter” was the first time Cruz tried to join the team after quitting in the beginning. Coach Carter insisted that he do several hundred exercises in order to get back onto the team by Friday. Cruz fails but his teammates offer to do the rest for him. We can try to work our way to Heaven but it is impossible to do so because of our sinful nature. However, Christ took the burden from us so that we may enter Heaven, like Cruz’s teammates offering to finish up his exercises so he could stay on the team. After discovering that his team went to a wild party, Carter wastes no time in chastising them for what they have done. I loved this film. It touched my heart. I learned that goals in life that seem to be unattainable can really be reached. It teaches that if you want to succeed in life, you really can succeed if you put your mind to it. The objectionable content seemed to be condemned more than condoned, which is a good thing. The movie teaches that in life we will always have obstacles. It’s up to us to overcome them and be successful. I recommend this film, though I would suggest that parents go see it with their teen-age kids (yeah, I know it’s embarrassing to see a movie with your parents but bear with me on this) and afterward talk about what transpired and the lessons that can be learned. Oh, and bring a box of Kleenexes. You’ll may need them. Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Moderate   Positive - This movie is a true story
about Coach Carter, a high school boy’s basketball coach from Richmond,
California in the late '90s. He takes over coaching at his high school
alma mater where he was a basketball star and still holds many of the
basketball records. The team he begins coaching is undisciplined both on
and off the court. Many of the players live in crime filled and
promiscuous situations. In order for the players to remain on the team
they must sign a contract, which states that they need to maintain a 2.7
grade point average, attend & sit in the front row of their classes and
wear a tie on game days. At practices, Coach Carter puts the team through
vigorous conditioning including suicides and push-ups which stretch some
of the players beyond their breaking point. Positive - I was inspired by this film. It was an amazing story that shows
how Christ can reach in and save us if we are willing to follow what He
asks of us. Coach Carter asked the team to follow rules simply for school
and basketball that had an affect on their entire lives. Christ does that
for us. If we obey His commands and follow His lead, our lives can and
will be changed. Never be satisfied with what is, always look at what
could be, in life and in people. Negative - From the moment I saw the trailer of “Coach Carter” I wanted to
see the movie. A good movie shows characters who have few morals learning
how important character is. It is inspiring to see those who are ashamed
of their own lives, come to respect themselves and others as well. These
are the major themes behind this film. The moviemakers did a fantastic
job of illustrating the fundamental ideas of how we ought to relate to
each other. I would have loved to watch this movie over and over. Positive - My husband and I are both pastors and thought this to be a good
film to use for teaching character values. Yes, there is some cussing, but
the target group we serve would not be offended, it is real life. The
movie was real life. We were impacted greatly. Coach Carter was a type of
Christ, he dealt with the cause of failure, the sin of having a lack of
knowledge and setting for the low road; He also set standards for himself
and was a role model for them. Coach Carter empowered them to continue on
in life in a positive matter. That is the Christian message for us. Coach
Carter also addressed the sins of the educational system designed to
foster failure, while protecting themselves politically and economically.
Jesus walked with those he taught and minister too, so did Coach Carter. Negative - My wife and I both were disappointed after watching this movie.
The story was excellent with regards to the character building job coach
Carter did, but there was a sub plot going on where one of the players
gets his girlfriend pregnant. Throughout the movie the girl was going to
keep the baby. Then out of nowhere she gets an abortion. The movie treated
the abortion like it was no big deal. It just ruined the movie for us. Neutral - The movie deals with important issues like youth violence, sports
competition, and teacher’s authority. Unfortunately, the film has a very
predictable ending, yet is satisfying. The premise for the flick has been
done many times before--coach turns a losing team into a winner but uses
controversial methods and get tough antics. Overall, I recommend it for the
lessons learned by the students--you must be committed and work hard to
achieve success. Positive - I must agree with several of the other reviewers on this page.
Overall, the film’s message is positive and I think the good messages
out-weigh the bad. Nonetheless, the casual way the movie treated the issue
of abortion was very disappointing to me. Basically, the girl decides that
having a child would be inconvenient and, therefore, she aborts the child
(without even consulting the father). Except for that one message, the
film would have been quite good and uplifting (although it contains a fair
amount of bad language and “booty shaking,” as well). I would not
recommend bringing a child under sixteen to this movie. Positive - I disagree with the view that this film promotes abortion. The
scene where the young woman admits she has had one is a sad scene, where
the audience feels disappointment in her choice. No adults counseled her
to do this. This was an excellent film for older teens and their parents
to view and then discuss together. Don’t send them alone. Go so you can
talk about the poor choices made, about the consequences of pride, about
the importance of standing up for what you think is important. Consider
this an “inoculation” for when your kids really get out in the world.
They’re going to hear and see a lot of this stuff. Talk about it now! Positive - While the movie does not look down on abortion, it does not take
it lightly. Some commenters have said that it was no big deal for her to
abort the child, but if you paid attention you saw that she struggled
with what to do for the entire film. It’s easy for many of us to condemn
her without thinking about the situation she was in. I don’t support what
she did, but it was not an easy decision for her. Comments from young people
Neutral - I feel almost upset when I rate this movie because in the long run
the message it is trying to send is a good one; however, other elements
such as constant cursing and abortion lead me to think less highly of it.
The movie is about a Coach trying to get a bunch of urban city teens to
respect each other and put the most important things first, which really
makes this a great movie, but as Christians the content I previously
stated above will be found offensive, so you may want to rent this flick
or stick to cleaner movies with nearly the same message, like “Remember
the Titans.” Positive - I loved this movie. Yeah, maybe they’re was some bad things in it; it still had a GREAT point to it! I thought that it was wonderful!! Movie Critics
“…one of those rare films that aims at being heartwarming and inspirational, and succeeds…” “…The movie’s closing credits indicate that six of the team members did go on to college, five with scholarships. Lives, not games, were won.” “…there’s one compelling reason to see Coach Carter, and his name is Samuel L. Jackson…” “…Much of the pleasure of Coach Carter comes from watching the supremely confident Jackson… more an education film than it is a sports movie…” “…There’s no denying that Carter’s hard-nosed stance was commendable, but in the hands of 'Shall We Dance' director Thomas Carter (no relation), the inspirational tale becomes just another by-the-numbers, cliché-ridden sports film…” “…a basketball film that teaches some valuable life lessons…'Coach Carter' gets the job done better than most…” |
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