Ridiculously dramatic

Rating: Null/10 (14 May 2003)

I can see why Roger Ebert would include this in his book of most reviled movies. Overall it just seemed really unrealistic and oozes with sentimentality to the point of nausea. Now don't get me wrong, Robin Williams is a great comedian, but his socially aware movies like this one and Patch Adams (which, if you think about it, are extremely similar) tend to make me gag. Also, why is every adult in this movie besides Williams 100% pure eeeeevil? The rest of the faculty at the prep school, every parent, even the janitors are these horribly bitter, mean souls who have nothing better to do than scowl at the screen. It's just a wee bit one-sided, is all I'm saying. And I found it hard to sympathize with Williams' character because his peers actually made some good points. Sure, it's one thing to encourage your students, but at a certain point things can get out of hand. Now comes my big speech about the main plot point: Neil's suicide. I had NO IDEA this was coming at me when I saw this character putting on his Shakespearean crown of thorns and walking to his dad's office. My classmates and I joked about him possibly axing his father (who had forbidden him to become an actor because he is eeevil), or axing himself, but we didn't think it would actually happen. And I just laughed out loud at the father's reaction to seeing his son and how the director handled it. Hint, it's in slow motion and he screams, "Noooooooooo!" Very cheesy. Then there is the ending, where Williams gets fired, half of the students get expelled, and the audience is supposed to believe that standing on your desks fixes everything. Sorry, but your teacher is still fired kids, and guess what? Now you have detention for standing on the desks! All in all, a sappy melodrama that lasted way too long, with about 100 lackluster subplots and too many characters. 1/4 stars