Coach Carter (2005) is a true story about a man who starts running a High School basketball team in a downtrodden school in Richmond, CA. It has a lot of the expected scenes of many of this genre of sports movie. The kids rebel, then come to respect, this guru. Some discipline problems ensue, but the team gets past it. Yes, somewhat derivative.
But most of those sports movies do not have Samuel L. Jackson playing the coach. This actor can bring so much power and authenticity to a character, that is makes the movie. That is the case in Coach Carter.
When this Carter speaks...it with with the voice of certainty...certainty of what the character stands for, and the certainty of this actor to pull it off. Jackson is why this movie works.
That is not to say that the story itself does not have good points, it does, and the cast of the basketball players do well in their roles. But it is clear that Jackson rules each scene he is in.
In any event, no matter why, this sports movie works. Coach Carter's insistence that these boys perform academically as well as on the court is a strong message in a society that gives up on too many. This is certainly a movie that entertains and gives a message.
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