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Below!
Title:
Coach Carter
Region:
One
Genre:
Drama
Stars:
Samuel L. Jackson and Ashanti
Writer:
Mark Schwarn and John Gatins
Inspired
By The Life Of Ken Carter
Director:
Thomas Carter
Feature
length: 136 minutes
Languages:
English Stereo Sound
Subtitles:
English Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 23
Sound:
Stereo Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2005/UMD Release: 2005
Theatrical
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Every
decade or so there are films that inspire young people to rise above the limits
society sets upon them. It is not easy because very often the limits one may
blame society for is rooted in one’s own belief system. Yet sometimes limits
are realistic. Can you expect a man without legs to walk again? Arguably yes
given modern technology and no if you expect legs to regenerate the way a tale
on a lizard grows back. There are cases that can be seen as miracles or
perseverance as well as a lot more, but I think what it all boils down to is
faith. It doesn’t have to be religious faith either. Sometimes the faith of
another can help us develop faith in ourselves. I think we have all experienced
moments in our lives where this is true. It could be a parent, a teacher, a
brother or sister, best friend, lover, or even a total stranger. It is not easy,
but faith manages. When I was growing up I remember watching Sydney Poitier on
television in the 1960s classic “To Sir With Love.” That film manages to
transcend racial and even cultural boundaries between continents because within
it is the core truth about how a teacher reaches students others considered
unreachable. Another great film is “Stand And Deliver,” which starred Edward
James Olmos as Jaime Escalante, a man who gave up a high paying job in
electronics to reach out to and teach inner-city students to seek a brighter
future by both motivating and challenging them to achieve. I cannot say how many
times I watched that film on HBO and VHS when I was in my early college years,
but I can honestly say that it was a film that gave me hopes when I had doubts
about my own academic abilities in college. Around the same time Morgan Freeman
portrayed Eastside High Principal Joe Clark, a man that almost single handedly
converted the New Jersey school from a den of drugs, gangs and corruption into
an effective place of learning in the film “Lean On Me.” This film received
a bit of controversy when it was first released because I think the real Clark
had left being a Principal at the high school where the film was set, but the
core story regardless of whatever happened afterwards was extremely powerful.
Tough love is the hardest form of caring one can receive, but sometimes it is
necessary. In grad school my mentor seemed so harsh with me that after the first
semester I considered dropping out, but eventually I learned what he was doing
was for my benefit and not because of my creative talents and abilities while
participating in an MFA program.
By
now this sort of story is an archetypal formula revisited over and over again by
Hollywood in many forms that have included comedies and even urban action
pictures like “The Substitute.” However between the fantasy stories are the
real ones that motivate and emotionally move us. “Coach Carter” is one of
those films. Samuel L. Jackson plays the lead role about an educator who
literally faced the combined pressure of players, parents and a community
because he literally locked down the gymnasium of his undefeated team because of
their poor academic performance. While some of the expected story points for
this kind of film are still apparent, for the most part “Coach Carter”
resists the clichés that sometimes exist with these kinds of dramas. Paramount
Home Entertainment UMD-Video for PSP edition presents “Coach Carter” is a
modified (1.78:1) widescreen aspect ratio to fit the 16 by 9 screen of Sony’s
PlayStation Portable. The picture quality is quite sharp with no visible
compression grain and solid colors. A clear English Stereo Soundtrack is
provided, which easily can be virtually remixed into a Surround Soundtrack by
outputting the sound to a docking station like Dream Gear’s “I Sound” or
using a composite audio output cable that has a plug that fits into the earphone
jack of the PSP and plugging the composite audio cables into a home theater
receiver and setting the DSP mode to Dolby ProLogic. It might sound complicated,
but it actually is very easy and only takes a few seconds.
There
is no official scene selection menu, but by manually counting the chapter stops
I believe there are approximately 23. Unfortunately there are no bonus features
related to this film encoded onto the disc, but I’m guessing this is for
optimum picture and sound quality. This is also a new portable media format
being explored by Paramount Home Entertainment as well as other studios and
distributors so it is not uncommon to see movie-only home video releases in any
media recently introduced to the American public just a few months ago. A DVD-Video
edition is also available. “Coach Carter” is can be purchased on UMD for PSP
now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2005 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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