Review of Coach Carter (2005) by James R — 30 Apr 2013

Every feel-good sports movie comes with a message of hope, usually including the overcoming of great adversity and/or developing a much stronger work ethic than was in place before. Coach Carter is no exception to this rule, and it adds the impact of being based on the true story of a coach who emphasized academics over athletic prowess while still fielding a successful team. Its basketball action scenes are exhilarating, much of its ghetto-banter dialogue is very funny, and it tackles several real-life teen issues in fairly realistic ways. Additionally, Samuel L. Jackson is flawless in the lead role, combining his usual badassity with great maturity and believability.

The problem I find with Coach Carter is small but significant: it tries too hard. It wants to have a big b-ball action sequence every ten minutes, it wants to show the high school players' perspectives and the coach's perspective on practically equal footing, it wants to tell the true story while adding several side sequences and subplots (including one involving a drug dealer and another about teen pregnancy), it wants to contrast the dead-end ghetto world with the hopeful possibilities of going to college, it wants each team member to have an individual presence, it wants to be both a funny teen-marketable party/sports flick and an inspirational movie for parents and coaches...in short, it wants to do everything. And while it actually manages that juggling act passably well, it suffers as a result by being really long. Varsity Blues, which focused largely on the teen aspect, and Glory Road, which focused only on the sports inspiration, were both under two hours. Even Miracle, of comparable length to Coach Carter, just doesn't FEEL as long, largely because it focuses on its story absolutely and doesn't get bogged down in additional material.

That said, however, Coach Carter is not a bad film, nor does its length and complexity completely cripple it. It's simply one of those films where you need to know going into it that it's not just a teen sports movie (and Paramount, knowing this, was wise not to market it as one).