AUTHOR Christopher Booker has written a book which says there are only seven basic plots in all the stories, films and television dramas in the world.

One of them is "rags to riches", another "the quest" - and this week's new release Coach Carter must throw in at least five of them.

For a start, we have the tale of the inspirational teacher. Add to that a little bit of a struggle against all odds, and what we end up with is a hybrid of Wildcats - the film where Goldie Hawn sorts out a bunch of no-hoper American football students at a school in a poor neighbourhood - basketball documentary Hoop Dreams and, bizarrely, the hugely-popular Save the Last Dance.

The latter familiarity comes about courtesy of the soundtrack, because, as an MTV production, Coach Carter has a pulsing R'n'B and hip-hop background, which constantly serves to emphasise just how "street" all these goings-on are.

It's based on the real life of Ken Carter (played by Samuel L Jackson), the former basketball star at Richmond High, who agrees to take over the job as coach of the team at his old school. Having won only four games in their last season, they're unable to can their attitude and apathy - that is, until Coach Carter comes along.

A self-made man who drives a Mercedes and has a pride in himself that the boys find alien, he immediately whips them into shape with some rough treatment, push-up style, before dispensing with the mouthier members of the team and producing a contract for the lads to sign.

Stipulating that they must attend practice, wear a shirt and tie to matches, perform community service and, most importantly, attain a certain grade point average, it becomes an issue which eventually pits Coach Carter against the headmistress, the boys' parents and the community of Richmond as a whole.

The strokes of reformation painted here may be broad, but they're done well, showing how Carter became a local celebrity/hate figure when he tried to make his point that school should be first and foremost about learning, and that sport is a privilege.

In the US, gifted basketball and football players are often barely able to read and write because their importance on the sportsfield takes priority, but the towering central presence of Jackson makes an obvious but heartfelt message highly entertaining for an audience this side of the Atlantic.

He's a man you wouldn't dare try to rile in a million years, so all due respect must go to the coterie of young actors around him who play the team, and don't just shiver by the sidelines.

However, their dull individual storylines - fire-arms issues, pregnant girlfriend - could have been cut completely, as they swell the two-hours-plus running time of this film to obese levels.

Let's face it - the man we're here to watch is the one with the whistle around his neck.