Coach Carter

Herald rating: * * *

Ken Carter was an all-round sports star in high school. Twenty years on, some of his records still stand. After school he was a standout in the US forces and a successful small businessman. When the basketball coach at his old school decides he's had enough of the arrogant, over-hyped, under-achieving team, Carter is asked to take over.

Sound like a typical sports movie? Well, yes, except that this is based on a true story.

Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) is tougher than the athletes. He makes the players sign a contract under which they promise to keep up their grades or be thrown off the team. Off-court he is a tough-love father figure, as his star player, Kenyon Stone (Ron Brown), is conflicted by his relationship with his pregnant girlfriend, Kyra (R&B singer Ashanti).

And when the players don't keep their end of the bargain, Carter locks the stadium, defaults games, and risks the team's championship chances. The community is outraged. They feel that the future for young black men is in pro sports or rap; Carter maintains that it's in education.

Unlike the recent and far better college sports movie Friday Night Lights, this is a melodrama with the typical tactics and playmakers: big games, changing room speeches, life-changing decisions.

Best feature on the disk is The Man Behind The Movie, a doco that traces the real Carter's sports career and later influence, with contributions from the coach, his son Damien and Jackson. Basketballer Mark Ellis explains how he trained the supporting cast and extras over three weeks in Fast Break At Richmond High, and six deleted scenes, several relating to the difficult relationship between Carter and Damien.

* DVD, Video rental today