Review of Coach Carter (2005) by Matt F — 30 Jan 2012

First, I want to give credit where credit is due. "Coach Carter" benefits in large part from a strong, if very preachy, performance from Samuel L. Jackson, a movie star who takes his simmering discipline in Laurence Fishburne territory as a former All-American coaching at his alma mater and determined to produce upstanding, academically-sound young men on top of a good basketball team.

However, the movie falls off a steep precipice after its star. The script, filled with every sports movie cliche there is, takes too long to bring about what is supposed to be an emotional payoff. There are too many scenes and subplots we don't care about, namely because the supporting characters (i.

E. - the players and their families) are cut from too familiar a cloth to seem interesting. Rob Brown (from "Finding Forrester") is the strongest of that lackluster group, but he has little chemistry with pop star Ashanti, who gives a wooden performance as his supposedly headstrong girlfriend.

It tries to be inspirational, but in the end perhaps it tries a little too hard. A close call but, as LeBron did with Cleveland, take a pass on "Coach Carter".