Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Coach Carter: 10 Point Review
- Sometimes a movie that wants to be important will forget to be good. Coach Carter walks very close to that line.
- The tacked on romance between one of the players and his pregnant girlfriend drags down an otherwise decently paced movie.
- The message actually is important for anyone who cares about the education and prospects of America’s most “at risk” kids. It is not, by nature, a liberal (read: Democrat) message, though. It isn’t about needing money or computers or even extra-special white teachers (does anyone else find that offensive?), it’s about needing good teachers, dignity, and mentors.
- Samuel L. Jackson is a wonderful presence in the movie…
- ...Even when he’s being asked to deliver stilted and cliched lines. The script really isn’t all that great.
- Oddly uninspiring cheerleaders. Talk about a downer.
- With two subplots of mixed results, the attempt to develop secondary characters was admirable. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, failing to deliver on much of the movie’s emotional promise.
- I really would like to know what happened to some of Coach Carter’s players (and his son, who turned out to be a Pointer--very cool).
- An aside: just how important is it for young men to have a strong, positive male role model as they grow up? All the public admiration for single family homes aside, I think one of the worst things you can do for a boy is deprive him of a father figure.
- Good, but not great. Coach Carter does take itself seriously, but it also manages to tell a decent story. Pity about those subplots.
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Comments & Trackbacks
I love reading your detailed reviews, Z.
Did I already see this movie when it was called Lean on Me, Dangerous Minds, then Stand and Deliver?
You know how few movies I watch, but I actually caught this one recently. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would, but probably for different reasons than most. As the father of three boys, and a parent in general, I admired the tough love discipline portrayed by Coach Carter with his own son and the team. (Getting up on soap box) If you look around society, especially from my perspective in the burbs, all I see are soft, indulged, ungrateful children that could use the same type of discipline, as well as real expectations for achievement. In the burbs, every kid is a genuis or gifted athlete from the day they’re born. I don’t think too many kids really know what’s it’s like to work hard at something and take pride in incremental achievement over time. I really don’t like to see kids get trophies and snacks just for showing up to participate. Organizations like the Boy Scouts that require higher standards, awarding only places 1-3 for the annual Pinewood Derby, get castigated by main street America for some of their positions on controversial issues. Anyway, these were some of my thoughts after watching Coach Carter. I think I’ll go make my boys run “suicides” this afternoon ;}. Zomby, you in?
Heheh.
I’m there.
Thinking you might want to break that soap box out more often…