Truman High is a charter high school in southwest Los Angeles. Its students come from neighborhoods that they would like to be able to leave, and some students will succeed and likely make it in life. The teachers seem committed to making this happen, but many of the students don't seem to care.
English teacher and soccer coach Mitch Carter is Teacher of the Year for California. Many of the students like him. But he has a chance at a high-paying job which will involve a lot of travel, and even though he loves teaching, it has its problems. And he has a wife who doesn't like her advertising job, which allows her to work from home a lot, and an adorable daughter and another baby on the way.
The movie is a documentary, though it's obvious early that it is too silly to be real, and we see there are actors playing cast members. But almost the entire movie is the documentary, and while we may forget the cameras are there, there are often signs that these people are being followed around, and sometimes they want what they say to be private. The person making the documentary actually speaks a number of times but is not seen.
Also, the documentary has a lot more than just Mitch's story. It almost seems to be about the school, its teachers, and the problem students.
Parents come in when their children have done something wrong. Some care, some think their kids can do no wrong, some don't understand why their kids are being criticized.
One teacher is falsely accused of an offense by a student and nearly fired. I won't say how his situation turns out, but the plot does show what a good man Mitch is.
Will Mitch leave the school? I can't answer that question because, for one thing, I'm not sure the question ever gets answered.
Be sure to stay around after the words "The End", which come prematurely. There are lots of outtakes, and the last few are bloopers.
Matt Lescher does a good job. Most of the actors here do.
Keegan-Michael Key is Principal Douche. The name is Dutch and not pronounced like one would expect. Except by just about every student and anyone who is mad at him. Douche tries too hard to be cool and is not respected by anyone. And if he tries to discipline students, they just don't listen. I am reminded of Barney Fife yelling and waving his hands, and Sheriff Taylor actually getting the job done. There is a vice-principal who hands out detention to nearly every student he sees, at least in the finished film, but people don't seem to take him much more seriously. I question if anyone is in charge at this place.
Jason and Randy Sklar are the Hammer brothers who are the school's college counselors. I wouldn't recommend taking advice from either one of them. They are very strange.
I'm not absolutely certain, but I think Jamie Kaler is the robotics teacher. He is serious about getting his students to do well, but he has an attitude problem. He is jealous of Mitch's success and doesn't think much of second place. And in one scene he is just plain cruel to his students. But don't be too concerned. They seem a lot happier at the end when the same scene gets messed up in one of the bloopers.
Caitlin Carmichael is so cute as Mitch's young daughter. I like his wife too.
Shari Belafonte also stands out but has only a few lines.
This movie is not for the kids. One teacher uses the proper language when describing sex. But I'm not sure kids are ready for that. They're not ready for a lot of the humor here. Another teacher makes a tasteless Helen Keller joke, but the kids seem to respond to her style.
Do I recommend the film? Of course. It has a good mix of humor, inspiring stories, and moral dilemmas.
English teacher and soccer coach Mitch Carter is Teacher of the Year for California. Many of the students like him. But he has a chance at a high-paying job which will involve a lot of travel, and even though he loves teaching, it has its problems. And he has a wife who doesn't like her advertising job, which allows her to work from home a lot, and an adorable daughter and another baby on the way.
The movie is a documentary, though it's obvious early that it is too silly to be real, and we see there are actors playing cast members. But almost the entire movie is the documentary, and while we may forget the cameras are there, there are often signs that these people are being followed around, and sometimes they want what they say to be private. The person making the documentary actually speaks a number of times but is not seen.
Also, the documentary has a lot more than just Mitch's story. It almost seems to be about the school, its teachers, and the problem students.
Parents come in when their children have done something wrong. Some care, some think their kids can do no wrong, some don't understand why their kids are being criticized.
One teacher is falsely accused of an offense by a student and nearly fired. I won't say how his situation turns out, but the plot does show what a good man Mitch is.
Will Mitch leave the school? I can't answer that question because, for one thing, I'm not sure the question ever gets answered.
Be sure to stay around after the words "The End", which come prematurely. There are lots of outtakes, and the last few are bloopers.
Matt Lescher does a good job. Most of the actors here do.
Keegan-Michael Key is Principal Douche. The name is Dutch and not pronounced like one would expect. Except by just about every student and anyone who is mad at him. Douche tries too hard to be cool and is not respected by anyone. And if he tries to discipline students, they just don't listen. I am reminded of Barney Fife yelling and waving his hands, and Sheriff Taylor actually getting the job done. There is a vice-principal who hands out detention to nearly every student he sees, at least in the finished film, but people don't seem to take him much more seriously. I question if anyone is in charge at this place.
Jason and Randy Sklar are the Hammer brothers who are the school's college counselors. I wouldn't recommend taking advice from either one of them. They are very strange.
I'm not absolutely certain, but I think Jamie Kaler is the robotics teacher. He is serious about getting his students to do well, but he has an attitude problem. He is jealous of Mitch's success and doesn't think much of second place. And in one scene he is just plain cruel to his students. But don't be too concerned. They seem a lot happier at the end when the same scene gets messed up in one of the bloopers.
Caitlin Carmichael is so cute as Mitch's young daughter. I like his wife too.
Shari Belafonte also stands out but has only a few lines.
This movie is not for the kids. One teacher uses the proper language when describing sex. But I'm not sure kids are ready for that. They're not ready for a lot of the humor here. Another teacher makes a tasteless Helen Keller joke, but the kids seem to respond to her style.
Do I recommend the film? Of course. It has a good mix of humor, inspiring stories, and moral dilemmas.