Movie Review (sorry, no image available)

‘Coach Carter’ is a movie released in 2005, directed by Thomas Carter. It was a two-hour long movie, sharing about the struggles of a basketball coach in the particular sport.

Ken Carter was employed as a new basketball coach in Richmond High with high salary. However, his life as a basketball coach was very tough by virtue of the deviant and misbehaved basketball players of the school. Before starting the basketball training, he signed a contract with the players. Initially, the rules in the contract were unachievable and unacceptable by everyone. Ignoring the vehement protestation from both players and parents, he continued with his plan. To everyone’s astonishment, Richmond basketball team revived under his leading, gaining streak wins in the area. However, things did not end here when the players failed to achieve the minimal academic performance as stated in the contact. As a result, the gym was closed and they were forced to study in the library. Chaos ensued as they were not allowed to play on the basketball court until Coach Ken Carter was sacked, or more appropriately, quit on his own. The gym was unlocked but the players had done something unexpected that made Coach Ken Carter return to Richmond. Finally, they managed to get themselves into the state level basketball match.

The characters in the movie include Coach Ken Carter, the coach, players:Damien Carter, Cruz, Kenyon, Junior, Worm and Lyle, Kyra and Principal Garrison.

There were several noticeable characters in the movie ‘Coach Carter’. First of all, Coach Ken Carter, who was the protagonist in the movie. He was a student in Richmond High thirty years ago, playing basketball. He realised the importance and urgency of education in order to survive in the society and to avoid being sent to prison due to the involvement in criminals. He wanted to emphasise on both academic and extra curricular performances of the players. Hence, he included the minimal academic performance and no loss during matches in the contract between the basketball players and himself. He even asked for academic reports of the players from the school authorities. He hoped that his team players, whose failure of having tertiary education was guaranteed by the principal and citizens, managed to enter colleges. Things turned out to be disappointing when almost the whole team players failed in their exams, skipped classes and did not sit in front row of the class. By locking up the gym, calling off every competition, and asking the players to come to the library to brush up their studies, he hoped that they could settle down to study hard to achieve the minimal academic performance. He cared about the players more than anything. Besides that, he did not reject the request of Junior to reenter the basketball team after the latter left the team. Junior could not understand and withstand the request of Coach Ken Carter to strive in academic performance even after they had won in so many games. Same thing happened to Cruz after he left the team for the second time. However, he was reaccepted into Richmond for Couch Ken Carter knew that Cruz had changed entirely and he accepted the new man.

Cruz was an aggressive antagonist in the movie. At first, he was asked to leave the gym due to profusely-spoken vulgar language. When not playing basketball, he got himself involved in drug selling. However, he was a man who could not live without basketball. He tried to rejoin Richmond but was troubled by Coach Ken Carter. He had to complete a tough task in limited time before he was readmitted into the team. He was willing to follow the instructions even though he knew that it was an impossible task. Fortunately, he managed to get back to the team when the other players gave him a hand. The virtue of cooperation and team spirit was inculcated simultaneously in each of the team player. Nonetheless, Cruz was a man of no commitment. Due to the stress to achieve the minimal academic performance and the banning from playing ball because of the locked gym, he left the team again, indulging in drug selling. After the death of Renny which was shot by the syndicate, he decided not to have any contact with them. He went to find Coach Ken Carter desperately, wanting to play basketball.

The climax of this movie will be the period between the discovering of the locked gym and the order to unlock the gym. After Coach Ken Carter received the academic reports of his players, he was in despair and decided to put aside the basketball trainings. Instead, he started to find ways out to help them in academic performance. His good intention could hardly be understood by anyone, except his wife. He locked up the gym and asked the players to go to library. In addition, he managed to get the respective subject teachers to assist them in their academic progress. Sadly, the players still did not realise the importance of having higher education so that they can improve their lives. Cruz felt unworthy and left the team again. However, there was a slight change in the opinion of the boys when Coach Ken Carter revealed the actual statistics of Richmond High students entering college hit the bottom line, the unbelievable large percent of teenagers who failed to enter college and indulged themselves in social ills, leading them to the life staying in jail. They were willing to give it a try. For the days without training and games, the people in the district protested. Mass media was even called to interview Coach Ken Carter on the issue of banning the players from playing ball. The crowd hoped to see the boys play ball on the court, ignoring the academic performance of the boys. Coach Ken Carter reiterated that the boys were bound to the rules of the contract. Even Principal Garrison felt that it was not his onus to bother about the academic performance of the boys. Subsequently, the issue was brought to the court. At the court, Coach Ken Carter stood firmly on his stand, which was achieving the minimal academic performance before unlocking the gym and allowing them to compete. He tried his very best to convince the attendants about the importance of education, not only to the boys. However, his endeavour was in vain. People voted him to be sacked. In great grief, Coach Ken Carter quitted. Out of his expectation, the boys moved the tables and chairs and studied in the gym, accompanied by the respective subject teachers. “…They can’t make us play.” These were the words from the boys. Finally, they also realised the significance of education in order to improve not only their lives, but also their families. Here, there was a shift of the perception of the boys towards education, from indifference to enthusiasms.

There was a list of social issues displayed in “Coach Carter”. First and foremost, it was the issue of teenage pregnancy. Kyra, girl friend of Kenyon was pregnant before marriage. She thought she could rise up the child, just like her sister. However, Kenyon saw the hidden obstacles. Both of them had to quit schooling at tender age and start working in order to earn a living. In the end, Kyra aborted the child, for she did not want to burden Kenyon. Lesson that I learnt was, intercourse before marriage is a no-no.

Besides that, illegal trading was also shown in the movie. Cruz involved in drug selling. This was speculated as a way of living in the crooked society. Nevertheless, it would lead to the loss of someone we loved, just like Cruz who lost Renny. Another issue will be the negligence of education. People in Richmond wanted the boys to play basketball instead of striving for their academic results. They neglected the education of the boys, for their own sake. Education was the only way to improve one’s standard of living and also to survive without being sent to jail. Furthermore, Principal Garrison and the crowd were giving up the boys. They did not even give a try to help the boys so that they could grow to be a better man in the future. For them, it was the boys’ destine to fail in the exams. Moreover, the society in the movie was not well-disciplined. The conversation among the boys was always bombarded with foul language, particularly “shit” and “nigger”. Last but not least, people became arrogant and proud when they faced no failures. For instance, the boys thought that they were the one who won in the games incessantly for Coach Ken Carter. They insisted that they were the one running and jumping on the court, not their coach. However, they never reflected that before they had Coach Ken Carter, they were nobody. It was the coach who trained them to become so skillful. Likewise, people in Richmond thought the coach did not have the rights to stop the boys from playing ball. They could even ask Coach Ken Carter to resign so that the boys could play the ball! They should have realised that without Coach Ken Carter, there were no such boys in Richmond. Thus, people should also be taught to appreciate and remember the good deeds of the others. As for the players, “Once the coach, forever the coach”.

I have learnt several values from the characters in the movie. First of all, I learn values from Coach Ken Carter. He was a never-say-die middle-aged man. Although the academic performance of the boys hit the bottom line, he still attempted to help them to pass their exams. When everyone gave up the boys, he picked up the obligation to rescue the boys from the spell of being low-educated. He was caring too. Coach was a career to give appropriate trainings to the players. However, he did more than that. He cared about the academic performance and the lives of his players. All of us should be likewise, to be caring towards the people around us, their needs and pleas. As from Richmond team, I saw the burning team spirit. Each of them was willing to pass the ball to each other in order to score and win the games. After all, basketball is not a one-man show.

In a nutshell, “Coach Carter” is a strongly recommendable movie. The language used was simple and the scenes were well-directed. By watching the movie, one will be exposed to the sophisticating basketball skills.