Samuel L. Jackson shouts, yells, bellows, and screams his way through the fact-inspired film, playing a gruff small businessman who takes on the thankless task of managing a boys' basketball team at a crime-ravaged high school. The school's beleaguered brain trust expects little of its underachieving students-gone-wild, but Jackson demands his charges perform exceptionally both on the court and in the classroom. With the help of numerous montage sequences, Jackson turns a motley gang of punks, gangstas, ne'er-do-wells, and toughs into a formidable basketball juggernaut. But when his boys underachieve academically, he takes drastic measures to motivate them.
Perhaps the most curious aspect of Jackson's performance is that it's almost completely external. As played by Jackson, the title character never experiences the slightest twinge of doubt or insecurity. He's both a rock and an island, a fierce zealot preaching a gospel of discipline and self-improvement. He's also about as warm and cuddly as R. Lee Ermey's drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. So when his students sneak out to blow off some steam with some rich white girls following a big game, it's easier to identify with their raging hormones than with Jackson's zero-tolerance approach to team shenanigans. Coach Carter eventually curdles into a grim love letter to discipline and accountability, which makes it the perfect sports film for W.'s second term, but not a whole lot of fun. Or for that matter, any fun whatsoever.
