Back in the late 90's high school basketball coach Ken Carter not only shocked the parents of Richmond high where he coached but also a nation when he took a stand and benched his entire winning team because they were not keeping their side of the bargain by maintaining a satisfactory level of academic achievement. But what drove Carter to be so strict was not so much the lack of academic grades but his determination to instil a belief in the young men of his team, that they could rise from their deprived back grounds and not have to resort to the readily available temptations on the street.

So is the true story which inspirational sports movie "Coach Carter" is based upon and whether you watch it as just yet another sports movie or for its inspirational tale their is no denying it is pretty decent. Although being cynical you could say that it's also pretty unoriginal as it deals with a new teacher entering the fray and inspiring a group of hapless kids which has been covered in movies such as "Dangerous Minds" before.

The good news is that director Thomas Carter, no relation to Ken Carter, knows what he is doing and manages to make a pretty formulaic storyline feel interesting. It also probably helps that Ken Carter and his son Damien, who is also pivotal to the storyline, were on board to help with the production which I am sure helped in stopping it drifting too far away from what actually happened at the time. This is demonstrated that although the ending features a series of subtitles which tell you what happened to each of the young men the actual climax doesn't resort to going down the completely predictable and unbelievable route.

One of the most charming aspects of "Coach Carter" is it feels honest. When one of the team decides to become a gangster under the guidance of his cousin, it doesn't feel out of place it feels utterly natural. The same can be said of the dialogue which has more than it's fair share of profanities and locker room bitchin' but it is what I would expect from this sort of movie and never does it feel wrong or contrived. In contrast to the colourful language you have Ken Carter and his son Damien who through hard work and determination have a decent life and this can be seen in their general demeanour and the way they speak. But again it doesn't feel wrong, especially when you understand that Ken Carter demands respect but gives respect where earnt.

As with many inspirational sports movies "Coach Carter" does follow a well trod routine and in this case we get the initial rebellion from the players as they try to show coach who's boss, this is followed by the gradual bonding of the team as they get to understand that their is no "I" in "Team" plus of course the one extra rebellious member of the team who quits only to realise that he is missing out on something special. But it doesn't really matter as Thomas Carter stops it feeling completely generic by pacing the action and the unravelling storyline perfectly.

What is surprising is that the actual basketball sequences are impressive and are extremely well choreographed. But again Thomas Carter has weaved his magic to make them feel honest to the extent that not only is it apparent that the young stars of "Coach Carter" are in fact playing the games which we see but also that their talents on the court are not over the top. One of the things which for me spoils many sports based movies is the excessive editing which is employed to disguise who is actually participating in the sports action, but here it is obvious that this wasn't needed and so makes "Coach Carter" yet again feel completely natural.

With the role of Ken Carter being quite a big role it is no surprise that Samuel L. Jackson was picked as he has a certain air about him and provides a certain amount of gravitas when ever he appears in a film. I would imagine his characterisation of Ken is pretty accurate and he certainly displays the characters of a man who demands respect but will award respect where justified. Jackson really makes a difference to "Coach Carter" as his screen presence provides the power that the character demands.

The team of young actors who play various members of the team are equally as good as Jackson and continue on the theme of being natural. None of them looked out of place or like a thirty year old masquerading as a high school kid as oft happens in the movies. I suppose you could be critical and say that they were to generically stereotypical but then what do you expect, the movie is about a high school basketball team and so will have characters which are generally seen in similar high school / sports movies.

The stand out performance from these young actors comes from Rick Gonzalez who plays Timo Cruz the team member who heads off to become a gangster because he didn't like Carter's new regime. The character of Timo Cruz is probably the one which is the least generic and several parts of the movie focuses on his slow realisation that what Ken Carter offers is away out of the ghetto and away from the likelihood of being dead before your thirtieth birthday.

What this all boils down to is that although "Coach Carter" is pretty stereotypical of this type of movie, director Thomas Carter makes the whole thing feel interesting. Yes you will be left cheering as the team bond and no doubt be willing them to win as well as feeling inspired by the ending, but you will have also felt like you have watched a movie which is slightly different to the norm. The few flaws in "Coach Carter" are significantly out weighed by all that is good and despite being surprisingly long at 136 min does not feel dragged out or cumbersome for a single moment.