January 12 - Coach Carter

Today’s movie is a sports drama with a scene that happens on January 12. Watch it tonight and enjoy.  

COACH CARTER                        

Ken Carter becomes the boys basketball coach at his former high school which was and is majority African-American and low income. The players on the Richmond Oilers are arrogant and disdainful. Carter forces them to sign contracts, agreeing to among other things to keep a 2.3 GPA. Carter’s own son transfers to the school. Carter works his players very hard, and they win their first game. Cruz, a player who had refused to sign the contract begs to be allowed back on the team and Carter lets him. The principal and some parents think Carter is being too hard on the players. Kenyon Stone who is now being looked at by scouts from some junior colleges has to deal with the fact that his girlfriend’s pregnancy no longer fits into his potential plans for the future. The team wins an invitational tournament, but after the team sneaks out to a party and Carter discovers the team has not achieved the GPA goal in the contract, he padlocks the gym, canceling practices and games. Many parents are outraged and the school board votes 4-2 to end the lockout on January 12, 1999 [ 1:47:55 to 1:48:22]. Carter had said he would quit if the board voted to end the lockout, but relents when he learns the players have decided on their own initiative to meet the GPA goal before they play again. Kenyon’s girlfriend gets an abortion while he gets a scholarship. The team does improve their grades and they end up in the state playoffs. They don’t win, but many of the players get basketball scholarship, something that would have been unimaginable at the start off the season.

                    

A good sports film. This is one of the better basketball films. Jackson is very good. Some details of the story were changed for ‘artistic’ reasons.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page3/story?page=merron/coachcarter says the lockout started January 4, 1999 and ended eight days later on the twelfth

Producers - David Gale, Brian Robbins and Michael Tollin

Director - Thomas Carter

Screenplay - Mark Schwahn and John Gatins

Runtime – 2 hours 14 minutes

Released – January 14, 2005

Starring – Samuel L. Jackson as Ken Carter

                 Rob Brown as Kenyon Stone

                 Robert Ri'chard as Damien Carter

                 Rick Gonzalez as Timo Cruz

                 Nana Gbewonyo as Junior Battle

                 Antwon Tanner as Wormy                   

                 Channing Tatum as Jason Lyle

                 Ashanti as Kyra

                 Texas Battle as Maddux

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2015