Good but Not Great

Rating: 7/10 (31 March 2018)

Having taught English for 43 years, I have stood in the place Robin William's character has. Some days you look out over the herds of kids that pass before you and you cry for them. As a teacher who put his heart and soul into what I did, I tried to make impressions help them master life skills. The sad reality is that one does one's best to crack the numbers game. Every year we have a few of those students who we try to embrace and find the right direction for them, but we are so hamstrung. The first thing I thought when evaluating this film is the little group of kids that he dealt with. He got to know each of them intimately. Of course, it's a prep school, but even then he should have had a couple other full classrooms. What he does is admirable and exciting. That he throws himself into his work to such an extent is amazing. But let's face it. This is a formulaic film that has been done many times before. It is monument building and flying in the face of establishment whose soul purpose is to ruin these kids' lives. There's a kind of narcissism to think that in this group we have bunch of directionless idiots who could never think for themselves. It sends a positive message but the population is carefully put together to send that message. It's just not real.