Jennifer Garner did not really kick butt with Elektra. And the animals in Racing Stripes did not talk loud enough to rock the box-office. But the inspirational Coach Carter, with the charismatic Samuel L Jackson, scored well to reach the top of the North American box-office with a powerful $23.6 million gross.

Yet, Meet The Fockers was still the amazing story of the week. The comedy came down by just about 33 percent in the second place, grossing $230 million in a month, and firmly over ruling newcomers Racing Stripes and Elektra. Another heartening success story of the week, In Good Company, which added 1,563 theatres to its previous count of three, enjoyed a solid reception. Its percentage rose as it grossed $13.9 million in third place. A funny and wise look at the corporate world of greed and competition, the modestly budgeted, well-reviewed film is certainly headed to profitability, even if it won't get any Oscar nominations.

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Not all expansions yielded satisfactory results. For instance, Sony Picture classics added 1,047 theatres and took the total count for the critically acclaimed and thoroughly enjoyable House Of Flying Daggers to 1189. And yet, the Zhang Yimou [Images] film, which had been in a limited release for six weeks and has been declared by Time magazine as the year's best, could gross just about $1.3 million. Its per theatre average of $1,050 clearly shows that another expansion is unlikely, unless it receives hefty Oscar nominations. With the discouraging results, it looks like the martial art drama will find it difficult to grow beyond $15 million in North America. Worldwide, it has grossed $70 million and continues to grow.

Less than a year ago, America welcomed Zhang's Hero with more enthusiasm, leading the film to a $50 million gross. Perhaps the results for Flying Daggers would have been different had Hero been released two years ago, if not earlier.

Coach Carter about a school basketball coach could be around for quite a while. Carter played in about 2,524 theatres and may add a few hundreds next week. The film was inspired by a true story: Ken Carter received praise and criticism six years ago for benching his entire winning basketball team for poor school grades.

The reviews for the movie, which did not cost a fortune, were generally upbeat.

The New York Times called the film, 'both a rousing, by-the-book sports story and a critique of the place of sports in American culture.'

But the New York Post was not impressed. It said, 'You'll think you've seen this one before -- and aside from Samuel L Jackson's noble efforts to humanise the committed coach, there's little to suggest you haven't.'

Coming in third was the talking animal kidpic Racing Stripes. Critics complained it was predictable and was over stretched but the film, which cost one third of the kid film Lemony Snicket's $120-$130 million, may be a modest hit.