Heavily cloaked in the nostalgia of the mid-1960s, THAT'S WHAT I AM is an unsuccessful throwback to the inspirational dramas that once constituted family entertainment in Hollywood, resembling a theatrical version of the quality "Insight" TV series of yore.
Set in 1965 but not very convincing in establishing that milieu at a California middle school (shot in New Orleans instead), film feels more like 1958. Back in 1965 I saw many a gritty, hard-hitting movie that I still remember vividly today, like THE PAWNBROKER, REPULSION and THE BEDFORD INCIDENT, but writer-director Michael Pavone's style is better suited to drive-in escapism of the '50s than a drama or what used to be termed a "problem picture".
Ed Harris gives a sterling performance as the inspirational teacher, who's occasional homilies give rise to the film's title. Kids cast at the school, okay if somewhat older looking to be playing 13-year-olds in the 9th grade, do pretty well, though a central character, the much-maligned Big G (so named for his too-tall size and ginger red hair) is given a very flat reading by newcomer Alexander Walters. It kept me from building the requisite sympathy for his character.
Far better is Chase Ellison in the central role of Andy (with older voice providing nostalgic narration for the character). He delivers his performance with panache and a convincing depiction of the awkwardness of a young kid trying to do what's right and coping with his first kiss (with precocious Mia Rose Frampton, a real beauty).
SPOILERS AHEAD:
Bullying is a timely theme here, though I was unmoved by the somewhat timid display of what happens to the various nerds & outcasts who inhabit "geeks' corner" at the school, beyond a punch in the stomach or petty extortion. Most vivid scene is when a tiny bully beats a poor girl with his belt, afraid to touch her with his hand for fear of getting "cooties" -this level of dramatic impact should have been developed in other key scenes.
Theme of positive thinking (in actor's terms, visualization) has Ed and later his charges asserting: I'm a writer or a teacher, therefore I am. It's hammered home but unconvincing. I know positive thinking is better than negative/depressive thoughts (obviously), but am convinced its emphasis nowadays is largely snake oil sold by motivational speakers and the self-help authors/gurus. Unemployment wouldn't be stuck at 9% plus if that's all it took!
Filmmaker Pavone takes the "I'm a writer, that's what I am" notion too much to heart and in fact overwrites some of his important scenes. A notable example is when Big G whips out a dictionary to demonstrate the categorical difference between "prejudice" and "tolerance" in developing the theme for a term paper he's writing with Andy. I felt like someone had called time in the middle of the film screening and I had to sit through an impromptu lecture before the movie could continue.
By film's end one becomes aware that Pavone cannot accurately assert "I'm a film director, that's what I am", because there is no sense of composition or even rudimentary cinematic technique applied to this project. The flatly-lit movie looks and plays like an old-fashioned TV show.
Part of the problem here is a generally overlooked subset of the independent film movement of recent decades: the billionaire as producer/financial backer. Just as Melvin Simon produced several 20th Century Fox hits independently in the '80s (see ZORRO, THE GAY BLADE, LOVE AT FIRST BITE or PORKY'S for examples), Mark Cuban produces progressive/left-of-center movies when not running the Dallas Mavericks and Vince & Linda McMahon make movies usually spotlighting their stable of wrestlers when not busy running for governor or staging WWE bouts.
The WWE influence here is a definite right-of-center stance to Pavone's script. Instead of someone taking a stand and opposing the community prejudice that causes Harris's teacher to resign when rumors of homosexuality float, the storyline has him merely walking away, to go to Florida to live with his sister. Typical of an up-with-people/America-the-Beautiful right-wing attitude, we don't need any social movement (Civil Rights or Gay Activism) here, just a cornball lesson in tolerance. The status quo lives on, thank you, now freed of the progressive influence of the nonconformist teacher. His prime accuser is well played by Randy Orton playing a bully's dad; he's a top WWE wrestler who is cast usually as a "heel" in the ring, and therefore perfect as a heavy on-screen.
Similarly rightist is the sugar-coating of race relations: the black kids at the school are not the subject of bullying or the overt prejudice meted out against Big G or the nerds he hangs with. Unstated subtext is that everything's hunky-dory for them, no big deal, an illusion promulgated at the time by the likes of Strom Thurmond and still part of the right's "post-racial society" distortion of what Rev. King was talking about in the mid-'60s, especially whenever the topic of Affirmative Action comes up.
Besides Ellison and Harris, there's a solid performance by Ed's wife Amy Madigan cast as the middle school principal, who ultimately is more worried about her career & family than doing what's right. Character actor Daniel Roebuck as Andy's by-the-book/authoritarian dad is quite convincing: heinous yet human.
Set in 1965 but not very convincing in establishing that milieu at a California middle school (shot in New Orleans instead), film feels more like 1958. Back in 1965 I saw many a gritty, hard-hitting movie that I still remember vividly today, like THE PAWNBROKER, REPULSION and THE BEDFORD INCIDENT, but writer-director Michael Pavone's style is better suited to drive-in escapism of the '50s than a drama or what used to be termed a "problem picture".
Ed Harris gives a sterling performance as the inspirational teacher, who's occasional homilies give rise to the film's title. Kids cast at the school, okay if somewhat older looking to be playing 13-year-olds in the 9th grade, do pretty well, though a central character, the much-maligned Big G (so named for his too-tall size and ginger red hair) is given a very flat reading by newcomer Alexander Walters. It kept me from building the requisite sympathy for his character.
Far better is Chase Ellison in the central role of Andy (with older voice providing nostalgic narration for the character). He delivers his performance with panache and a convincing depiction of the awkwardness of a young kid trying to do what's right and coping with his first kiss (with precocious Mia Rose Frampton, a real beauty).
SPOILERS AHEAD:
Bullying is a timely theme here, though I was unmoved by the somewhat timid display of what happens to the various nerds & outcasts who inhabit "geeks' corner" at the school, beyond a punch in the stomach or petty extortion. Most vivid scene is when a tiny bully beats a poor girl with his belt, afraid to touch her with his hand for fear of getting "cooties" -this level of dramatic impact should have been developed in other key scenes.
Theme of positive thinking (in actor's terms, visualization) has Ed and later his charges asserting: I'm a writer or a teacher, therefore I am. It's hammered home but unconvincing. I know positive thinking is better than negative/depressive thoughts (obviously), but am convinced its emphasis nowadays is largely snake oil sold by motivational speakers and the self-help authors/gurus. Unemployment wouldn't be stuck at 9% plus if that's all it took!
Filmmaker Pavone takes the "I'm a writer, that's what I am" notion too much to heart and in fact overwrites some of his important scenes. A notable example is when Big G whips out a dictionary to demonstrate the categorical difference between "prejudice" and "tolerance" in developing the theme for a term paper he's writing with Andy. I felt like someone had called time in the middle of the film screening and I had to sit through an impromptu lecture before the movie could continue.
By film's end one becomes aware that Pavone cannot accurately assert "I'm a film director, that's what I am", because there is no sense of composition or even rudimentary cinematic technique applied to this project. The flatly-lit movie looks and plays like an old-fashioned TV show.
Part of the problem here is a generally overlooked subset of the independent film movement of recent decades: the billionaire as producer/financial backer. Just as Melvin Simon produced several 20th Century Fox hits independently in the '80s (see ZORRO, THE GAY BLADE, LOVE AT FIRST BITE or PORKY'S for examples), Mark Cuban produces progressive/left-of-center movies when not running the Dallas Mavericks and Vince & Linda McMahon make movies usually spotlighting their stable of wrestlers when not busy running for governor or staging WWE bouts.
The WWE influence here is a definite right-of-center stance to Pavone's script. Instead of someone taking a stand and opposing the community prejudice that causes Harris's teacher to resign when rumors of homosexuality float, the storyline has him merely walking away, to go to Florida to live with his sister. Typical of an up-with-people/America-the-Beautiful right-wing attitude, we don't need any social movement (Civil Rights or Gay Activism) here, just a cornball lesson in tolerance. The status quo lives on, thank you, now freed of the progressive influence of the nonconformist teacher. His prime accuser is well played by Randy Orton playing a bully's dad; he's a top WWE wrestler who is cast usually as a "heel" in the ring, and therefore perfect as a heavy on-screen.
Similarly rightist is the sugar-coating of race relations: the black kids at the school are not the subject of bullying or the overt prejudice meted out against Big G or the nerds he hangs with. Unstated subtext is that everything's hunky-dory for them, no big deal, an illusion promulgated at the time by the likes of Strom Thurmond and still part of the right's "post-racial society" distortion of what Rev. King was talking about in the mid-'60s, especially whenever the topic of Affirmative Action comes up.
Besides Ellison and Harris, there's a solid performance by Ed's wife Amy Madigan cast as the middle school principal, who ultimately is more worried about her career & family than doing what's right. Character actor Daniel Roebuck as Andy's by-the-book/authoritarian dad is quite convincing: heinous yet human.