Coach Carter

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2:23

Coach Carter

PG-13

Released Jan 14, 2005

2h 16m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

64%

Tomatometer

146 Reviews

85%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

In 1999, Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) returns to his old high school in Richmond, California, to get the basketball team into shape. With tough rules and academic discipline, he succeeds in setting the players on a winning streak. But when their grades start to suffer, Carter locks them out of the gym and shuts down their championship season. When he is criticized by the players and their parents, he sticks to his guns, determined that they excel in class as well as on the court.

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Critics Consensus

Even though it's based on a true story, Coach Carter is pretty formulaic stuff, but it's effective and energetic, thanks to a strong central performance from Samuel L. Jackson.

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Engaging film with a terrific message.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 22, 2010

Full Review

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

This is supposed to be about setting high standards, yet it's full of fudged ultimatums; in the end I couldn't be sure whether its morality was complex or just confused.

Mar 25, 2008

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Nathan Rabin

AV Club

Samuel L. Jackson shouts, yells, bellows, and screams his way through the fact-inspired film

Oct 6, 2006

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a decent-enough inspirational sports drama...

Rated: 2.5/4

Feb 18, 2023

Full Review

Eddie Harrison

The List

Despite the attraction of fluently filmed basketball sequences, director Thomas Carter's simplistic approach to the social and educational issues involved makes this vacuous MTV-produced movie fall well short of the basket.

Rated: 2/5

Apr 23, 2019

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Leigh Paatsch

Herald Sun (Australia)

A quality sports drama.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 27, 2018

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Audience Member

I only put this 5 star out of fear of doing 1,000 suicides and 25,00 push-ups. This movie is smooth I guess. I will never forgive them for that ending that they had. They should have made the state championship. I hate this movie for the ending but pretending the ending don't exist ts fire twan. If you got a problem with ts review imma find you and make you run suicides. The end. on folknem. btw Paul S has dementia

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/28/25

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Jerod S

No surprises on this insp sports film led by Samuel L Jackson. Channing being a bad boy is kinda humorous.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/05/25

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DennisFeinsteinCEO

We need more movies based on inspirational true stories these days. This movie is loaded with great actors and a fantastic message 👌

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/25

Full Review

thiago s

Filme legalzinho, o roteiro é bacana, a história do filme é bacana, o Samuel l jackson é bom como o treinador carter ele tenta tirar seus jogadores de perigos como crime, drogas e ouras coisas perigosas, o filme tem um drama bom, mas as cenas não foram tão impactantes, mas o filme foi legalzinho.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/29/25

Full Review

Joshua m

Hoosiers in a different setting. While this all looks familiar and predictable, the acting was quite good.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/08/24

Full Review

Stephen H

One of the best feel good movies ever. Performances were outstanding.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/25/24

Full Review

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Thomas Carter

Director

Samuel L. Jackson

Coach Ken Carter

Robert Ri'chard

Damien Carter

Rob Brown

Kenyon Stone

Ashanti

Kyra

Debbi Morgan

Tonya

Coach Carter: Official Clip - The Final Shot

1:55

Coach Carter: Official Clip - Push-Ups and Suicides

2:07

Coach Carter: Official Clip - Richmond vs. Bay Hill

2:04

Coach Carter: Official Clip - Not Your Storybook Ending

2:13

Coach Carter: Official Clip - Timeout Pep Talk

1:56

Coach Carter: Official Clip - Come-from-Behind Win

2:11

Coach Carter: Official Clip - Our Deepest Fear

1:59

Coach Carter: Official Clip - First Practice

2:12

Coach Carter: Official Clip - A Better Life

2:09

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Coach Carter: Trailer 1

2:23

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Synopsis

In 1999, Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) returns to his old high school in Richmond, California, to get the basketball team into shape. With tough rules and academic discipline, he succeeds in setting the players on a winning streak. But when their grades start to suffer, Carter locks them out of the gym and shuts down their championship season. When he is criticized by the players and their parents, he sticks to his guns, determined that they excel in class as well as on the court.

Director: Thomas Carter
Producer: Brian Robbins, Michael Tollin
Screenwriter: Mark Schwahn
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: MTV Films, Tollin/Robbins Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Sexual Content|Language|Some Drug Material|Teen Partying|Violence)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 14, 2005, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 15, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $67.3M
Runtime: 2h 16m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, Surround
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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