Coach Carter

It wasn’t until well into Coach Carter that I realized it kind of stinks. For a good chunk of its two-hour-plus running time, I was enjoying it. I was laughing, I was semi-crying, and I was getting all caught up in the spirit of the thing. Then the bottom just fell out, and I felt stupid for enjoying anything it had to offer. The film is “based upon” the life of Coach Ken Carter, played by Samuel L. Jackson. In 1999, Carter benched his undefeated high school basketball team because the athletes were screwing up on their studies, and somebody out there thought it should inspire a 140-minute film. Don’t get me wrong; I like long movies, but only when there’s enough solid material to keep things flowing for that length of time. Coach Carter has 90-minute film written all over it, and by the time it passes that two-hour mark, the butt starts hurting.