MOVIE REVIEW 2

Title: Coach Carter

Wikipedia:

Coach Carter is a 2005 drama film released by Paramount Pictures, and directed by Thomas Carter. It is based on a true story, in which Richmond High School (Richmond, California, USA) head basketball coach Ken Carter made headlines in 1999 for benching his undefeated team due to poor academic results.

A basketball movie for basketball fans(sorry, I am not one), undoubted the best and only basketball movie I have seen.

A really touching story, it teaches us about being a person, though playing basketball is the team's only life, the coach had transformed them to be men and to lead a real life, not just to seek enjoyment but to look to what is reality.

The school team is from a bad school which rank 1 in a scale of 1 to 10. The team is made of African-Americans with the coach formerly from that team 30 years back. The coach enter the team after the team suffered a bad season with 4 wins and 22 losses. The coach had other intentions than just to push the team into the next season with 16 consecutive wins, the coach wants to warn them the dangers of life that his team during his time had faced.

He said to the team after realising that their results are very bad: 33% of African-American aged 18 to 24 get arrested every year, if you are in Richmond, that will be 80%. My (the coach's) friends in the team were either in jail or dead. That is why I came back to coach you all, hoping that it will change.

He also emphasise the importance to enroll in a college.

A certain teammate called Cruz, went in and out of the team due to his bad attitude was kept prompted by the coach with this question: What is your deepest fear?

After his cousin was shot dead and he joined back the team, he answered:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone, and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

That was the most touching part of the movie showing how a previously gangster-liked boy changed to a man with a vision.

I had watched it twice, once last year and once just two days ago. Highly recommended to all of you to go watch it.

By: Clement