Faded Boxers

First of all, here’s a list of things that I didn‘t like about Coach Carter:

• Samuel L. Jackson, is the only real actor in the movie.
• Robert Ri’chard’s name. What’s with the apostrophe? So now that he’s graduated from Cousin Skeeter, how’s he gonna celebrate his becoming a “serious” actor? Add another apostrophe to his name? Somebody stop this kid before he becomes R’o'B’e'r’t R’i'c’h'a’r'd. Also, his character was downright boring.
• Ashanti may be cute, but her story arc didn’t do anything for me.
• Though I like the Timo Cruz character, I thought the way his subplot was done was over the top. A little subtlety would have been nice.
• Despite the movie’s title, I walk away not knowing a whole lot more about Coach Carter then when I came in.
• Being an MTV produced film, it has a tendency to resort to quick cuts and fast edits. I’m a staunch advocate of the philosophy that shaky camera movements does not lead to more excitement. It leads to incoherence and shows a lack of confidence in one’s ability to capture a scene.

These little rants aside, I found myself enjoying most of the movie which is no surprise since I’m a sucker for Sports Movies.

I love the predictability of it all. I love the comfort of knowing that whatever you invest in the story emotionally, you’ll be given a big payback at the end. You can be pretty sure that the team will win the championship, the star player will get the girl, and the school will get their heroes. If that doesn’t happen, take comfort in the fact that there’s a bigger moral victory that will render their failure to get the trophy inconsequential.

Yep, I sure do love sports movies. But they gotta start putting in some new ideas pretty soon, because I don’t know how much longer I can love them.