Mark Schwahn Movies
The true-life story of a coach who tries to teach his players that there's more to life than basketball is brought to the screen in this sports drama. Ken Carter (Samuel L. Jackson) was once a star player on the Richmond High School basketball team in Richmond, CA, and years later, after establishing himself in publishing and marketing, he returns to the school and to the team as the new basketball coach. Carter quickly sees that his work is cut out for him -- the team is having an awful season, and their fights off the court are more decisive than their play on the court. While Carter wants to make the Richmond cagers into a winning team, he also wants a lot more -- to teach the boys to respect themselves and one another, and that they must excel in the classroom as well as in the gymnasium. Under Carter's guidance, the team turns their losing season around, with the state title a genuine possibility. However, when Carter learns that a number of his players have let their grade point averages slip below 2.3, as mandated in a contract he entered into with the students, he decides to lock the team out of the gym and send them into study hall until their marks improve. Carter's plan quickly becomes a subject of controversy among parents and team boosters, and their objections are soon picked up by the local news media, many of whom are not sympathetic to Carter's belief that his players must have goals beyond college ball or the NBA. Coach Carter also features Rob Brown and Rick Gonzalez as members of the team, and R&B diva Ashanti in her film debut as the girlfriend of one of Carter's players. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Ri'chard, (more)
- 2004
The big news that broke during the finale of One Tree Hill's first season -- namely, the marriage between wealthy, arrogant high school basketball star Nathan Scott (James Lafferty) and Haley James (Bethany Joy Lenz), the lifelong friend of Nathan's half brother, Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) -- determines much of the action and most of the dicier plot complications in the series' second season. The season opens as Lucas and his uncle Keith Scott (Craig Sheffer) abandon plans to leave the North Carolina community of Tree Hill when Lucas' father and Keith's brother, Dan (Paul Johansson), suffers a heart attack. As for Dan, he persuades everyone that the coronary has changed him and that he wants to mend fences -- not only with Lucas and his mother (and Dan's high-school sweetheart), Karen Roe (Moira Kelly), but also with Dan's estranged wife, Deb (Barbara Alyn Woods, who this year joins the cast as a regular). In reality, Dan is just as evil as ever, scheming to destroy Haley and Nathan's nuptials, ruining Deb's life, and vying with high school basketball coach Whitey (Barry Corbin) to control Nathan's future. Meanwhile, two of the women in Lucas' life, Peyton (Hilarie Burton) and Brooke (Sophia Bush), both nurse grudges toward Lucas. In later developments, Nathan goes to work for Keith; new neighbor Felix (Michael Copon), a specialist in mind games, forces everyone to look deep into their souls; Karen opens a club called "TRIC" where Peyton runs an "all-ages" night; Lucas ends his romance with Anna (Daniella Alonso) when he realizes that he's still in love with Brooke, and worries that his dad's heart condition may be hereditary; Nathan and Haley's marriage seems to be on the rocks even before it can properly get under way, especially when Nathan finds out that he'd once had a fling with Haley's sister Taylor (Lindsey McKeon), and Haley launches an e-mail tryst with Chris (Tyler Hilton). And these only represent a few of the season's many melodramatic hooks! As the season concludes, Karen considers moving to Australia with her new love, Andy, until an unidentified "spoiler" enters the scene to threaten everyone's future happiness. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chad Michael Murray, James Lafferty, (more)
Produced by MTV Films, The Perfect Score is a teen crime comedy about a group of high school students who decide to steal the answers to the SAT exam. Kyle (Chris Evans) wants to be an architect, but his scores are too low to get into the school of his choice. Matty (Bryan Greenberg) is heartbroken when he is rejected from the school to which his girlfriend goes. Good girl Anna (Erika Christensen) is pressured by her parents to excel in academics and remain innocent. Desmond (Darius Miles) is a basketball player who believes the SAT exam is racist. Rounding out the group is gutsy Francesca (Scarlett Johansson) and lonely Roy (Leonardo Nam). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Erika Christensen, Chris Evans, (more)
- 2003
Set in the affluent suburb of Tree Hill, NC, this teen-oriented WB dramedy was the story of two half-brothers united only by a common name. Sullen Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) was a street-basketball legend in his own small blue-collar community, while his arrogant half-sibling Nathan (James Lafferty) was even more celebrated as the star player of Tree Hill High's varsity basketball squad. Both boys were the sons of former pro basketballer Dan Scott (Paul Johansson), who had long ago abandoned both Lucas and his mother, Karen (Moira Kelly), to start life over with a new wife and family. These fractious elements came together when Tree Hill coach Whitey Durham (Barry Corbin) pulled strings to have both Lucas and Nathan play on his hoops team. The inbred reality between the half-brothers (who, up until they joined the same team, were unaware that they shared the same parentage) was of course intensified when both set their sights on the same girl, Peyton Sawyer (Hilarie Burton). Created by Mark Schwahn, One Tree Hill premiered September 23, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this teen-oriented romantic comedy, Ryan Woodman (Shane West) is a socially inept high school senior whose idea of a good time is practicing his accordion, while Chris Campbell (James Franco) is a BMOC football star (and intellectual lightweight) at the same school. Ryan is hopelessly in love with Ashley Grant (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe), who is beautiful, popular, and entirely out of his league, while Chris has a serious crush on Maggie (Marla Sokoloff), a pretty but bookish friend of Ryan's. Chris and Ryan realize that they're in a position to help each other, and through a complicated arrangement of phone calls, e-mails, and double dates, they try to work out a system by which each guy will be with the girl of his dreams -- though things hardly turn out the way anyone expected. Produced under the title Got to Be You, Whatever It Takes also features Julia Sweeney and Colin Hanks. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Franco, Colin Hanks, (more)
- 1997
Four lifelong friends struggle to make the uncomfortable leap from adolescence to adulthood in this independent comedy-drama. Jimmy (Gabriel Olds) lives in the same Midwestern town where he was born; while Jimmy has always been bright, he's never had much use for academics, but his post-high-school career as a roofer is starting to make him wonder if college is such a bad idea. His best friend Trevor (Alan Tudyk) is busy with his romantic problems, owing to a frustrating relationship with a beautiful but flighty Amy (Kellie Overbey), a waitress who enjoys telling strangers about her sex life. Madeline (Jennifer Crystal) comes home from her first year at college looking for a summer job, and finds one; unfortunately, it's cleaning and painting the city's municipal swimming pool. And Jimmy and his pal Reid (G. Riley Mills) find their roofing jobs are threatened by a strike at the factory that provides most of the town's jobs. When Jimmy is forced out of the roofing business, he finds himself taking work as a scab laborer at the plant, which has unexpected -- and unpleasant -- consequences. 35 Miles From Normal had its world premiere at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
