The Ideal of Teaching

Rating: 9/10 (11 November 2005)

Yes the story is sappy and idealized. That is the point. No one goes into teaching to get rich. Some start teaching as a way to pay bills, but no one stays in teaching to do that. Glen is like the best teachers I had. Intelligent. Fiesty. Challenging. Willing to make students look beyond their textbooks into the world.
Great soundtrack. Real issues, especially for those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s when schools slashed budgets left and right and then wondered why this generation was so apathetic.
If the movie was today the director would spend forever on the "affair" with Rowena and maybe throw in a gratuitous love scene. This movie does right by the characters, who remind me of specific people in my school experience.