Issue date: 1/27/05 Section: Aggielife

Photo courtesy of Paramount pictures; Inspired by a true story, ´Coach Carter´ is the story behind controversial high school basketball coach Ken Carter.

Basketball games aren't the toughest match-ups in "Coach Carter," the necessity of quality education and the importance of athletics take center stage as they go head-to-head in this recent film starring Samuel L. Jackson.

"Coach Carter" tells the story of Ken Carter (Jackson), the Richmond, Calif. high school basketball coach who struck a national nerve by benching his entire team for their lackluster report cards. Poignant at some moments and preachy at others, the movie wavers between social commentary and slam-dunk montage. To get an idea of the film's tone, think of "Remember the Titans" - but for basketball - only this film has cursing, drug references, some violence and sex. On second thought, don't think that.

Jackson's natural charisma makes for the perfect Carter: assertive and excessively loud in his efforts to reform his rag-tag street urchins into a well-oiled full-court force. One condition Jackson's character imposes on the team is that the players must maintain a 2.3 grade-point average to play. While it might sound like a laughably easy accomplishment to some, it proves to be the high school team's undoing in the film, as Carter discovers well into the season that most of his players are failing their classes. This news causes him to cancel all further games until the student athletes earn back the "student" part of their title.

"Coach Carter" also includes several sub-plots involving the sordid lives of the high school basketball team's members, who are all united under the wing of Carter's stellar 1999 season.

Ashanti makes her theatrical film debut, acting as one student athlete's "baby's mama," and gives a well-delivered and believable performance. The father, Kenyon, played by Rob Brown ("Finding Forrester"), is searching for what he wants out of life in the form of a collegiate basketball career. Carter's intelligent son Damien also plays on the team, but his story is never fully told. In addition, viewers are given a stereotypically troubled youth in Timo Cruz, the movie's token drug-pusher.

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