A Surprising Samuel L. Jackson Movie Is Coming To Netflix
A Samuel L. Jackson movie is coming very soon to Netflix. And this one is a bit different than some of his recent work.
This article is more than 2 years old
If you’re a fan of Samuel L. Jackson (and who isn’t?), you’re going to want to watch Coach Carter when it comes to Netflix in March. Starting on the first of the month, the movie will become available to USA subscribers. If you haven’t seen it, or it’s been a while, it’s definitely a decent movie that’s worth the watch.
Coach Carter tells the story of Ken Carter, who takes on the job of coaching his old basketball team at Richmond High School in California. When Carter takes on the job, the kids are a little rough around the edges and don’t initially respond well to Carter’s stricter coaching style. The movie is actually based on the true story of Ken Carter, who made news for suspending his undefeated basketball team due to their grades. You see Samuel L. Jackson’s Coach Carter take the same approach as his real-life counterpart in the movie.
Though the movie is a little formulaic, like a lot of sports movies, it still hits all of the emotional beats pretty well. It’s anchored by an always magnetic Samuel L Jackson performance and the rest of the cast of young boys portray their roles with a lot of heart. The movie also gets credit for depicting some of the struggles the boys on the team face outside of school and the basketball court. It’s a movie that isn’t afraid to pull punches and displays some of the disadvantages the kids face in their everyday life.
Though I mentioned it already, Samuel L. Jackson really excels in the role. He’s the perfect fit for a tough-as-nails coach that also cares about the kids on his team. The rest of the cast includes Rick Gonzales, Robert Ri’chard, Rob Brown, Nana Gbewonyo, Antwon Tanner, Channing Tatum, Ashanti, and Octavia Spencer. The movie is directed by Thomas Carter and written by Mark Schwahn and John Gatins. It was nominated at several award shows, including the BET Awards for Samuel L Jackson as Best Actor and the ESPY Awards for Best Sports Movie.
As for critical and audience reception, it received relatively warm reviews. The critic score on Rotten Tomatoes of 64% isn’t especially impressive, but the audience score is much higher at 85%. Many of the reviews mention Samuel L. Jackson as a highlight, but the movie is also uplifting and an overall solid sports drama. The complaints mostly boil down to the formulaic nature, which is a fair enough critique. There were a decent amount of sports movies coming out in the early 2000s, so it could be that audiences just had a little bit of burnout. Still, if you’re looking for a good sports drama, you’ll definitely get what you’re looking for out of this one. Just don’t expect it to blow your mind with new ideas.
The movie did decently well at the box office when it was released. It almost made its full budget back on opening weekend, taking the first place spot for the weekend at just over $24 million. It beat out the comedy Meet the Fockers to take the top spot. The movie would go on to make $67.2 million domestically and gross $76.6 million worldwide. With a budget of $30 million, the movie was definitely able to exceed the financial expectations.
For 2005, it was ranked #36 at the box office for the entire year. With 200 movies on that list, that’s not too bad. Samuel L. Jackson almost certainly played a role in bringing in the numbers, because who wouldn’t want to see Jackson as a basketball coach? Of course, Jackson also happened to be in the top-grossing movie of that year, playing the Jedi Mace Windu in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
If you can’t wait until March 1 to watch Samuel L Jackson in Coach Carter, Netflix has you covered until then. There are some great Samuel L. Jackson movies on there like Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight. If anyone knows how to write a role for Samuel L. Jackson, it’s Quentin Tarantino. There’s also the comedy The Other Guys, the infamous Snakes on a Plane, and the thriller The Negotiator to check out while you’re at it. Those should definitely hold you over.
