Factual errors: (This was also pointed out by another poster, and it's definitely worth mentioning here.) Having high school students do 500 pushups is absolutely ridiculous. Even a very fit athlete would have difficulty doing even just 100. I seriously doubt that this was an accurate depiction of Carter's drill sergeant methods.
I also mentioned in the other thread that those are not 500-in-a-row-pushups. 500 would be impossible for the average teenager. But a professional athlete (gymnasts for example) can do more than 100.
Miscellaneous: In the scene where the players do pushups and suicides to help Timo Cruz get back into the team, Carter instructs his assistant Clyde to "keep count." How is one man supposed to keep track of 12 players' pushups and suicides?
Quite impossible, yes. But my guess is that the guys tell Clyde how much they've done and he keeps count of that.
Miscellaneous: Coach Carter walks into Mr Gesek's classroom and interrupts him -- in mid-sentence at that -- to ask about Junior Battle, who is supposed to be in that class. Whether you're a coach, a co-teacher, or even the principal, you do not walk into a teacher's class and interrupt him in mid-lecture. Not even with a polite "Excuse me."
Well, he does in the movie. So that is not a goof, just rude behaviour.
Factual errors: There are several mentions of Carter "canceling" games. There's even a scene wherein he hangs up a sign that reads, "Fremont game has been cancelled" on the gym door. Strictly speaking, a coach cannot cancel a scheduled game. Only the league can. What Carter actually did was *forfeit* those games.
For the people who wanted to visit these games, it makes no difference. Of course, he can't cancel games. But when he forfeits, this means that the game itself gets canceled.
Revealing mistakes: At the Education Board meeting, the name plate of Ms Nguyen reads "Nyugen."
Hehe. Good one. :-)
Miscellaneous: You have to wonder how Timo Cruz was able to memorize that lengthy "Our deepest fear" piece. (That scene had my eyes rolling.)
Why wouldn't he be able to memorize that? It's just a couple of lines. Back in school, I had to memorize "Die Bürgschaft" by Friedrich Schiller once. 20 verses, each 7 lines long. Now THAT was hard. Also, Cruz did it voluntarily.
Factual errors: During the final seconds of the game against St Francis, the game clock is running while the ball is in the air (from the inbound heave). It should only run when it's touched by a player.
Being from germany, I don't know about high school rules, but in the NBA, this would actually be a flaw, yes.
Miscellaneous: During the same aforementioned scene, there are many people in the stands who are smiling, a very unnatural behavior under these circumstances.
Ok, I'll give you that... ;-)
Cheers to your watchful eye!
___________________________________
I didn't like the Godfather, so what?
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royal_blue
15 years ago
"I also mentioned in the other thread that those are not 500-in-a-row-pushups. 500 would be impossible for the average teenager. But a professional athlete (gymnasts for example) can do more than 100."
Duly noted. It wasn't established in the movie, but yes, I guess we can safely assume that these were not in-a-row.
"Quite impossible, yes. But my guess is that the guys tell Clyde how much they've done and he keeps count of that."
Yup, we can also safely assume this. It does, of course, leave room for cheating, but this being a very positive, feel-good movie, we like to believe the players followed the honor system.
"Well, he does in the movie. So that is not a goof, just rude behaviour."
Yup, not a goof by imdb definitions (anachronisms, continuity, etc.). But I thought this was a pretty glaring flaw, considering that Carter, a well-mannered, educated man, should know better.
"Why wouldn't he be able to memorize that? It's just a couple of lines. Back in school, I had to memorize "Die Bürgschaft" by Friedrich Schiller once. 20 verses, each 7 lines long. Now THAT was hard. Also, Cruz did it voluntarily."
It was actually pretty long, for someone who was catching up with a lot of academics (Science, Math, History, etc.). Then again, maybe he found the piece so inspiring that he read it again and again until he knew it by heart. No biggie, really.
"Being from germany, I don't know about high school rules, but in the NBA, this would actually be a flaw, yes."
I'm not from the US either, but I did ask an American friend about this. He said yes, the clock should have stopped while the ball was still in the air. He told me that typically, in high school level inter-school basketball tournaments, the clock runs even during dead ball situations after field goal conversions, and only stops when a referee blows his whistle. The exception to this is during the last two minutes of the game, when every second counts.
"Cheers to your watchful eye!"
Thanks, mate. Much appreciated.
Oh, I didn't mention in my original post that these flaws notwithstanding, I really like this movie. I rated it an 8, because I found it pretty inspiring.
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mkuhn1020
11 years ago
The push up thing was established in the movie. Coach Carter specifically gave Cruz until a given day (I think he said Friday?). So it is clear he has at least a full day or two. Which is totally do-able.
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