Article: Entertainment

Because the film presents a fairly-faithful rendering of actual events, don’t expect a sugar-coated, "happily-ever-after" Hollywood finish and you won’t be disappointed. That being said, Coach Carter, nonetheless, is ultimately unusually satisfying, as it transcends typical sports flick fare, given its sobering suggestion that tough times might call for tough love and tough measures

Unfortunately, there were just as many bad Black outings as good ones, with the year being marked by an extraordinary number of embarrassing Stepin’ Fetchit-style showings. If the Black Hollywood renaissance ushered in by Halle and Denzel’s Oscar wins only means returning to another era of minstrel shows, I’d just as soon pass.

The picture was expertly crafted and directed by three-time Academy Award-winner James L. Brooks, a legend long appreciated for his ability to present complex characters involved in compelling predicaments. His impressive screen credits include four Best Picture Oscar nominations, for Terms of Endearment, Jerry Maguire, As Good As It Gets and Broadcast News.

This deliberately-paced, character-driven production is actually a trio of tenderhearted tales of undying love, each inspired by the classic works of Monzaemon Chikamatsu (1653-1724). Chikamatsu, the author of over 140 domestic dramas exploring themes arising out of the conflict between duty and desire, is revered in Japan as the country’s equivalent of William Shakespeare.

But when they discovered so many young street urchins residing in brothels there, they decided to focus on the awful plight of these unfortunate, underage social pariahs instead. For they found that while the hardened hooker moms might have resigned themselves to their slum squalor and second-class status, their innocent, ostracized offspring still harbored dreams of rising above their inherited, lowly station.

Sir Anthony Hopkins narrates the otherwise gay play-by-play as Ptolemy, periodically hinting at our hero’s preferences with matter-of-fact observations like, "It is said that Alexander was never conquered in his lifetime, except by Hephaistion’s thighs." The film’s man-on-man hedonism is presented subtly, more in hugs and longing looks than in steamy lip locks.

By the film’s end, Troy is broke, and the overnight sensation has even lost the bar. Fame can be so fleeting. Back in obscurity, he’s reduced to leaving threatening messages on Harvey’s answering machine …Bankruptcy couldn’t have happened to a better guy.