Featured Audience Ratings

• Melvin W

  
  Coach Ken Carter: l came to coach basketball players, and you became students. l came to teach boys, and you became men.  "It begins on the street. It ends here." Coach Carter is a good sports movie, even though we've seen these type of stories played out in the same… More
  Coach Ken Carter: l came to coach basketball players, and you became students. l came to teach boys, and you became men.  "It begins on the street. It ends here." Coach Carter is a good sports movie, even though we've seen these type of stories played out in the same way countless times before and after this film. It still excels as we see all the predictable moments, all the "I'm not playing for this guy," all the "Coach I want back on the team," and all the adversity the players have to go through. The movie is what it's been labeled. It's inspirational and it's heartfelt. While, a lot of movies fail in trying to achieve this by working too hard, this one works too hard at trying to achieve that, but still manages to. Ken Carter takes a high school basketball coaching job at a ghetto, "bad" school. The kids are undisciplined and don't care about school. They also are bad at basketball, having only won four games the previous year. Carter is there to change it all. He tells them the losing stops now. He tells them to either sign a contract stating you'll keep a 2.3 gpa, attend all your class, sit in the first row of all your classes, and wear a jacket and tie on game day. He makes them run endlessly to get them in shape and soon he has his team on track with an undefeated record into the middle of the year. But all that adversity is going to hit. Samuel L. Jackson thrives in the role of Coach Carter. He looks the part and he sounds the part. I wouldn't call it his best performance or anything like that, but he is very good. The acting from everyone else, ummm.... I'll go with so, so. But the movie is called Coach Carter and thusly the fate of the film really rested on Jackson's shoulders and he was able to hold it up. The movie has problems, most of them coming with the genre. Predictability, cliches, and heart tugging among them. Still, this is a better than average addition to the "Bad News Bears" type of story. Coach takes misfit riddled team and turns them into winners. Is it a masterpiece? Hell no. Is it bad? Hell no. I've seen it many times now and I still enjoy it. It's definitely a worthwhile film to watch if you haven't seen it yet. Try FX, it seems to be on that channel every other day.

• Jeff "

  
  Average sports drama that is predictable, Coach Carter doesn't do anything new or original. I felt that Coach Carter though good, was nothing great, and it was nothing new to the sports genre. The film is the same old, predictable formula. Everything you'd expect happens,… More
  Average sports drama that is predictable, Coach Carter doesn't do anything new or original. I felt that Coach Carter though good, was nothing great, and it was nothing new to the sports genre. The film is the same old, predictable formula. Everything you'd expect happens, despite this; the film manages to be good entertainment. However, the fact that the sports drama genre seems to be comprised of the same old ideas, is a tad annoying. There are good performances here, nothing ever great, but for what it is, it's pretty entertaining. Coach Carter is no different than every other sports drama, and relies on the usual plot elements that you'd expect. The film is average, and if you've seen plenty of sports dramas, its pretty predictable. Nonetheless I liked the film The cast did a good job here, and it had a good plot despite the fact that it's nothing really new. This film will appeal to sports film fans. Coach Carter is entertaining, but like I said, it's the same old tired formula, luckily the cast keeps this film entertaining and watchable. The film relies on cliches but overall it remains constantly dramatic and entertaining like every other sports drama. A good cast, and good plot keeps this film rolling and fun.

• Eric A

  
  A very engaging film, this is Samuel L. Jackson at his finest.

• Bethany M

  
  Amazing film. One of my all time favourites. All of the cast were exceptional and this true story is full of positivity and leaves you smiling uncontrolably. A must see!

• Jim C

  
  Another great basketball movie. Samuel L. Jackson and the teenagers are great, really believable. The plot was okay, predictable and cliche at times, but it had very good moments. In the end, Coach Carter is a great movie, but a lot of cliche moments and the Hoosiers feel keep it… More
  Another great basketball movie. Samuel L. Jackson and the teenagers are great, really believable. The plot was okay, predictable and cliche at times, but it had very good moments. In the end, Coach Carter is a great movie, but a lot of cliche moments and the Hoosiers feel keep it from being perfect.

• Thomas B

  
  Some fine set-pieces and an adequate storyline, the only reason this film holds up is Samuel L. Jackson refusing to phone it in. Full review later.

• E.J. B

  
  Coach Carter packs the usual cliches of the sports film into its 136 minute run time. That means that we will get lots of locker room speeches, renegade kids who will mature into proper, intelligent young adults within a few weeks, and a community who opposes all the radical notions… More
  Coach Carter packs the usual cliches of the sports film into its 136 minute run time. That means that we will get lots of locker room speeches, renegade kids who will mature into proper, intelligent young adults within a few weeks, and a community who opposes all the radical notions the protagonist instigates in his teaching methods. Where the film shines is in the presence of Samuel L. Jackson as that protagonist. Jackson commands the screen. He yells a lot, which is customary for him to do, but he creates a believability in his character that doesn't happen often in films of this ilk. His character is a role model that I actually felt could connect with the youths on the basketball team, and his methods of tough love were strong enough coming from him to make the kids want to change their lives. Consistently engaging.

• Cynthia S

  
  These movies will always get me. Coach Carter is yet another true inspiring story where one person changes many lives. Very moving, and powerful, and has a strong message about public education in urban areas, Well done. As usual, Samuel L. Jackson is at his finest.

• Richard C

  
  B

• KJ P

  
  Inspiring! Samuel L. Jackson, who is in every single movie, put's on a very good performance!

• Lady D

  
  Coach Carter certainly has it's corny moments despite being based on a true story. The relationship between coach and team is a great evolving tale of mutual respect and has a similar feel to it as Freedom Writers. A very enjoyable role for SLJ and a great character to play.… More
  Coach Carter certainly has it's corny moments despite being based on a true story. The relationship between coach and team is a great evolving tale of mutual respect and has a similar feel to it as Freedom Writers. A very enjoyable role for SLJ and a great character to play. Special Features are worth a watch to meet the real life characters of the story.

• Coxxie M

  
  i hope i havent seen this

• Tim S

  
  Note: See my review for "Remember The Titans" for same review.

• Lorenzo v

  
  For its genre - the high school uplifting turnaround - this is a good example. Samuel L. Jackson delivers a solid and believable performance. The members of the team are also believable, and the story is definitely uplifting. There are no major surprises. One of the things I look for… More
  For its genre - the high school uplifting turnaround - this is a good example. Samuel L. Jackson delivers a solid and believable performance. The members of the team are also believable, and the story is definitely uplifting. There are no major surprises. One of the things I look for most, especially with big name actors like Jackson, is whether I believe that they are the character while I'm watching the movie, or whether I'm seeing the actor portraying the character. Jackson is totally believable as Coach Carter. This movie includes enough drama, including vignettes focusing on the lives of some of the players, to keep it interesting throughout.

• Luke B

  
  File under "inspirational" and also probably "rehash". Yes there are hundreds (at least a lot) of films about teachers inspiring the poorest of the students to get out there and do something. There are also a lot of films about unorthodox sports coaches. I wonder… More
  File under "inspirational" and also probably "rehash". Yes there are hundreds (at least a lot) of films about teachers inspiring the poorest of the students to get out there and do something. There are also a lot of films about unorthodox sports coaches. I wonder if the real Coach Carter took this on board before he embarked on his career as a teacher, hoping one day to have a film about himself on the big screen, because combining the two really is a superb idea. Uplifting, funny, has all those will they wont they moments. Great messages if handled a little to obviously. Still everybody knows the awesome power of a slow motion basketball match. It had me biting off my nails since Teen Wolf.

• Tim S

  
  I'll watch ANY basketball movie...but this one was TOUGH to get through.

• Dean !

  
  Based on a true story. This is a mix of Dangerous minds and Boyz N the hood with a basketball theme.

• Bobby H

  
  Good movie. Worth watching. I think the reason I didnt like it as much, was because the hype for it, was way more then it actually turned out too be. But, it was good.

• Jennifer X

  
  very cliche and copied, but was worse than remember the titans.

• Bannan i

  
  Amazing retelling of a story. Jackson is great in here. Lovely story, although kind of Remember the Titans-ish...gives these kids some hope for doing something good with their lives. Uplifting.

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