Coach Carter
Release date: 2005-01-14
Votes: 3201
Genres: Drama, History
Based on a true story, in which Richmond High School head basketball coach Ken Carter made headlines in 1999 for benching his undefeated team due to poor academic results.
Reviews
The Movie Mob
**Coach Carter allows its powerful true story to shine through Samuel Jackson’s performance and the focus on the lives of the young men Coach Carter coached.** Coach Carter is the inspiring true story of a coach that cared much more about the lives and future of his players than winning a game. Samuel Jackson was the perfect choice to play no-nonsense but compassionate Coach Ken Carter that believed in his players while holding them to standards that changed their lives. While the movie is about basketball, the focus is much more on the relationships and development of its characters. The actual basketball scenes of the movie are decent but less compelling than the rest of the story. Coach Carter is an excellent film for those that want to see how their choices and willingness to fight compromise can change the lives of others.
CinemaSerf
When the eponymous coach (Samuel L. Jackson) arrives at Richmond High School, he inherits a disparate group of guys who play basketball as they take life - casually with little responsibility. Their grades are low and so their futures unlikely to break the cycle of poverty and lack off opportunity. He decides to try and break that by insisting that they sign contracts before they can play. These require perfect attendance, no late-coming and grade averages that will ensure they graduate. There's resistance from the team and from their parents, but thanks to a bit of help from the principal (Denise Dowse) he sticks to his guns and they have to accept his ultimatum. The remainder of the film follows his attempts to mould something cohesive from these young men as they, themselves, deal with issues that impact on their own lives. Carter's dream is not a forgone conclusion here. Though there is an element of predictability to the development of the story, his charges do not routinely conform to his grand design and as he gradually builds a functioning (and winning) team, he also realises that their academic focus is what's lacking. That's his biggest challenge. They can't make a living playing ball, but it can be a conduit to an education that can stand them in good stead in the future - and that's the real message here. As with so many people growing up in an environment devoid of opportunity, sport can prove to galvanise people. It can offer hope, introduce the benefits of team building and inter-reliance and ultimately help to prioritise for what's to come. Jackson puts in a strong effort here, and the writing also helps succinctly tell a story that Rick Gonzalez, Rob Brown and Anton Tanner also contribute well to as they represent the men who just initially want to play with little appreciation of the profound chance being offered them. It is too long, and towards the end the story does rather run out of steam, but as a real-life coming of age story it still works well.
Movie Recommendation
Glory Road2006-01-13In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.More...
Notorious2009-01-16"Notorious" is the story of Christopher Wallace. Through raw talent and sheer determination, Wallace transforms himself from Brooklyn street hustler (once selling crack to pregnant women) to one of the greatest rappers of all time: The Notorious B.I.G. Follow his meteoric rise to fame and his refusal to succumb to expectations - redefining our notion of "The American Dream."More...
Amateur2018-04-0614-year-old basketball phenom Terron Forte has to navigate the under-the-table world of amateur athletics when he is recruited to an elite NCAA prep school.More...
One Eight Seven1997-07-29After surviving a stabbing by a student, teacher Trevor Garfield moves from New York to Los Angeles. There, he resumes teaching as a substitute teacher. The education system, where violent bullies control the classrooms and the administration is afraid of lawsuits, slowly drives Garfield mad. He then moves to California to be a sub for a predominantly Native Hispanic/Latin-American high school in Los Angeles. He is tormented by members of a Native Hispanic/Latino-American tag crew named K.O.S. (Kappin’ off Suckaz).More...
Fighting2009-04-24Small-town boy Shawn MacArthur has come to New York City with nothing. Barely earning a living selling counterfeit goods on the streets, his luck changes when scam artist Harvey Boarden sees that he has a natural talent for streetfighting. When Harvey offers Shawn help at making the real cash, the two form an uneasy partnership.More...
Hardball2001-09-14An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.More...
The Guardian2006-09-28A high school swim champion with a troubled past enrolls in the U.S. Coast Guard's 'A' School, where legendary rescue swimmer Ben Randall teaches him some hard lessons about loss, love, and self-sacrifice.More...
Like Mike2002-07-03Calvin and his friends, who all live in an orphanage, find old shoes with the faded letters MJ connected to a powerline. One stormy night, they go to get the shoes when Calvin and the shoes are struck by lightning. Calvin now has unbelievable basketball powers and has the chance to play for the NBA.More...
White Men Can't Jump1992-03-27Two street basketball hustlers try to con each other, then team up for a bigger score.More...
Remember the Titans2000-09-29After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone – tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men learn to overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.More...
Moneyball2011-09-23The story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball team on a budget, by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.More...
She's the Man2006-03-17Viola Hastings is in a real jam. Complications threaten her scheme to pose as her twin brother, Sebastian, and take his place at a new boarding school. She falls in love with her handsome roommate, Duke, who loves beautiful Olivia, who has fallen for Sebastian! As if that were not enough, Viola's twin returns from London ahead of schedule but has no idea that his sister has already replaced him on campus.More...
Step Up2006-08-11Delinquent Tyler Gage receives the opportunity of a lifetime after vandalizing a performing arts school, gaining him the chance to earn a scholarship and dance with up-and-coming dancer Nora.More...
xXx: State of the Union2005-04-27Darius Stone's criminal record and extreme sports obsession make him the perfect candidate to be the newest XXX agent. He must save the U.S. government from a deadly conspiracy led by five-star general and Secretary of Defense George Deckert.More...
Space Jam1996-11-15With their freedom on the line, the Looney Tunes seek the help of NBA superstar Michael Jordan to win a basketball game against a team of moronic aliens.More...
The Darkness2016-05-13A family returns from a Grand Canyon vacation with a supernatural presence in tow.More...
Above the Rim1994-03-23Story of a promising high school basketball star and his relationships with two brothers, one a drug dealer and the other a former basketball star fallen on hard times and now employed as a security guard.More...
The Coldest Game2019-11-08Warsaw, Poland, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962. Josh Mansky, a troubled math genius and former US chess champion, is recruited to hold a dangerous public match against the Soviet champion, while playing the deadly game of espionage hidden in the darkest shadows of a hostile territory.More...
Friday Night Lights2004-10-08A small, turbulent town in Texas obsesses over their high school football team to an unhealthy degree. When the star tailback, Boobie Miles, is seriously injured during the first game of the season, all hope is lost, and the town's dormant social problems begin to flare up. It is left to the inspiring abilities of new coach Gary Gaines to instill in the other team members -- and, by proxy, the town itself -- a sense of self-respect and honor.More...
The Keeper2018-12-05The story of a man whose love for football, for England and for the love of his life, Margaret, saw him rise from Nazi 'villain' to British hero. Bert Trautmann, the German goalkeeper won over even his harshest opponents by winning the FA Cup Final for Manchester City in 1956 - playing on with a broken neck to secure victory.More...
Similar Movies
Test Tube Teens from ...
1994-07-27In the future, corporations have taken over the world and banned sex. A group of rebellious high school students devise a way to go back in time to the present day and try change history to prevent that from happening.Living Proof
2008-10-18Dr Dennis Slamon, an American oncologist, discovers a treatment that could possibly cure breast cancer without radiation or chemotherapy. He tries to look for ways to fund the medication.The Match
No data for this movieAlthea Gibson was Black, and Angela Buxton was Jewish. And in 1956, they faced prevailing racism in the UK and changed the face of professional tennis by winning the ladies’ doubles trophy at Wimbledon. Gibson went on to finally win the ladies singles title at Wimbledon in 1957, and also formed a lifelong friendship with Buxton.Butterfly
1999-09-24The film centres on Moncho and his coming-of-age experience in Galicia in 1936. Moncho develops a close relationship with his teacher Don Gregorio who introduces the boy to different things in the world. While the story centres on Moncho's ordinary coming-of-age experiences, tensions related to the looming Spanish Civil War periodically interrupt Moncho's personal growth and daily life.The Wave
1981-10-04A teacher conducts an experiment in an American high school where students learn how easy it is to be seduced by the same social forces which led to the horrors of Nazi Germany.The Gorgon Case
1977-11-25In 1931, just before the New Year, in a house of architect Henryk Zaremba scream rips the night. The daughter of Zaremba is found killed in her bedroom, obviously killed with a pickaxe. The police arrives and starts the investigation. Rita Gorgonova, the governess of the girl and also lover of Zaremba becomes the main suspect. Film based on real events - investigation and court trials of the most famous pre-war Polish murder case. Despite being historically accurate the movie is both involving and entertaining since the case was simple on the surface, but very complicated in details.Flow
2012-11-14There is no descriptionBoxer
2024-09-10With only his wife by his side, a promising young boxer flees communist Poland to chase his dream of becoming the greatest fighter in history.Limonov: The Ballad
2024-09-05A revolutionary militant, a thug, an underground writer, a butler to a millionaire in Manhattan. But also a switchblade-waving poet, a lover of beautiful women, a warmonger, a political agitator, and a novelist who wrote of his greatness. Eduard Limonov’s life story is a journey through Russia, America, and Europe during the second half of the 20th century.The Sweet Hereafter
1997-09-25A small mountain community in Canada is devastated when a school bus accident leaves more than a dozen of its children dead. A big-city lawyer arrives to help the survivors' and victims' families prepare a class-action suit, but his efforts only seem to push the townspeople further apart. At the same time, one teenage survivor of the accident has to reckon with the loss of innocence brought about by a different kind of damage.Kickboxer
1989-04-20If your enemy refuses to be humbled... Destroy him. Accompanied by his brother Kurt, American kickboxing champion Eric Sloane, arrives in Thailand to defeat the Eastern warriors at their own sport. His opponent: ruthless fighter and Thai champion, Tong Po. Tong not only defeats Eric, he paralyzes him for life. Crazed with anger, Kurt vows revenge.A Walk to Remember
2002-01-25When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production, he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's minister. Jamie has a "to-do" list for her life, as well as a very big secret she must keep from Landon.The Honeymoon Killers...
1970-02-04Martha Beck, an obese nurse who is desperately lonely, joins a "correspondence club" and finds a romantic pen pal in Ray Fernandez. Martha falls hard for Ray, and is intent on sticking with him even when she discovers he's a con man who seduces lonely single women, kills them and then takes their money. She poses as Ray's sister and joins Ray on a wild killing spree, fueled by her lingering concern that Ray will leave her for one of his marks.The Football Factory
2004-05-13The Football Factory is more than just a study of the English obsession with football violence, it's about men looking for armies to join, wars to fight and places to belong. A forgotten culture of Anglo Saxon males fed up with being told they're not good enough and using their fists as a drug they describe as being more potent than sex and drugs put together.Narratage
2017-10-07Izumi is a sophomore university student when she hears from her former high school teacher and mentor Takashi. They were both involved in the school drama club. She liked him. He liked her. Takashi asks Izumi to return to the school and assist with a performance. Will the feelings be rekindled?Unforgivable
1996-04-30Paul Hegstrom is a so-called family man who puts his wife through domestic violence and his children through emotional torture. After leaving his family and almost killing his new girlfriend in one of his rages, Paul is ordered to either seek professional help through an innovative therapy program or go to jail.The Accused
1988-10-14Out drinking one night after a fight with her boyfriend, three men brutally rape Sarah Tobias in a bar while people watch and cheer. District Attorney Kathryn Murphy takes the case; however, she allows the rapists to receive a mild sentence. A distraught Sarah decides to seek punishment for the men who witnessed and encouraged the rape. To get justice, Sarah must take the stand and revisit the night of her attack.The Human Stain
2003-10-29Coleman Silk is a worldly and admired professor who loses his job after unwittingly making a racial slur. To clear his name, Silk writes a book about the events with his friend and colleague Nathan Zuckerman, who in the process discovers a dark secret Silk has hidden his whole life. All the while, Silk engages in an affair with Faunia Farley, a younger woman whose tormented past threatens to unravel the layers of deception Silk has constructed.High School Musical
2006-01-20A popular high school athlete and an academically gifted girl get roles in the school musical and develop a friendship that threatens East High's social order.A Night to Remember
1958-07-03The sinking of the Titanic is presented in a highly realistic fashion in this tense British drama. The disaster is portrayed largely from the perspective of the ocean liner's second officer, Charles Lightoller. Despite numerous warnings about ice, the ship sails on, with Capt. Edward John Smith keeping it going at a steady clip. When the doomed vessel finally hits an iceberg, the crew and passengers discover that they lack enough lifeboats, and tragedy follows.