Customer Reviews

Chalk - Morgan Spurlock Presents

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

They really had me going. I thought for sure when I was watching "Morgan Spurlock Presents: `Chalk'" I was watching a documentary. Indeed the acting is so natural it took me until a silhouetted fantasy scene half way through the movie to figure out it was not. Featuring mainly three teachers and one assistant principal, all the mishaps of education come to fruition at fictitious Harrison High School in Texas. Filmed in Austin, TX and New York City, the tightly knit pseudo simulation year-in-a-life escapades are often funny and very familiar. Nothing happens even in the bigger moments that doesn't look like real life. We see the teachers in the classroom, in the teacher's lounge, and being videotaped at their residences. 'Chalk' does to education what 'The Office' does to the workplace.

The Faculty: Mr. Lowrey (Troy Schremmer) is a first year social studies teacher with a first class case of the jitters. He stutters and his stilted lectures prove that those who can (as in come from "The Real World" with a technical job) can't necessarily teach. (In that respect he's no Jaime Escalante.) Admirably, he tries to loosen up and change up the lesson plans and delivery. Cell phones and missing chalk all but derail the lessons, but at least his learning curve gets him high marks.

Mr. Jack Stroope (Chris Mass) is an energetic third year history teacher. He spends all his waking hours on his job as many do. Abrasive, yet caring, he's a coach and a tireless tutor who will go out on a limb to motivate his students. He can only be faulted for his self-promoting campaign to become "Teacher of the Year". His new year's (academic year that is) resolution is to give up sarcasm.

Coach Lindsey Webb (Janelle Schremmer) is a second year PE teacher. A stickler to the rules, she stalks the halls, taking her colleagues to task for not upholding the tardy policy. However, at least in her own classes, her vibrant presence takes an admirable tack. One of the first things she lets us know is that just because she wears short hair and is a PE teacher, doesn't mean she's gay.

Mrs. Reddell (Shannon Haragan) is a first year assistant principal. Both she and her colleagues are shocked at how different things are when she steps out of the classroom. Consulting with fellow AP Mr. Odel, she learns quickly that the paper chase is perhaps even worse out of the classroom. The funniest chase, however, is when she's running down the halls with her walkie-talkie trying to capture students up to mischief.

Subject Matter: Giving too many details of the humorous developments is a spoiler, so I'll just give a topic overview: Tentative copiers, after class conferences, low departmental resources, accidental mishaps, teacher infatuation, and gaffes steeped in fatigue are all par for the course. There are plenty of philosophical statements by educators who are on a turn sage and often so in the thick of it they're blind-sided.

Evaluation: 'Chalk' is a B+ movie. The feel is comfortable. We can recognize, sympathize, and laugh at the folly and frustrations of the educators' lot in life. The film gets high marks for editing and authenticity.

Reflection: I am a teacher, and I could relate to nearly all the foibles and predicaments of the protagonists. Being in those shoes, I found the film funny and cathartic. At the beginning the movie states that 50 percent of all teachers move on within the first three years of instruction. Despite poking fun of all players and the process, you can surely say it is sympathetic.

True-to-life documentary-style film in which four completely believable actors and three classes of real students at Travis High School in Austin, Texas, tell it like it is in American public schools. Troy Schremmer as first-year teacher Mr. Lowrey is a fish out of water who gets off on the wrong foot the first day, wrangles with students over misbehavior and ringing cell phones, and eventually evolves as his students decide miraculously not to give up on him. His fellow teachers have their own griefs, gripes, and conflicts - sometimes with students and sometimes with each other.

Meanwhile, a new assistant principal finds herself putting in long hours that alienate her from the faculty she hopes to serve. Many scenes make you cringe; many more make you laugh; often you don't know whether to laugh or cry. While there are small successes along the way, the ambivalent ending is perfect. We now know the truth behind the opening statistic, that 50% of teachers quit in the first three years. Produced on a shoe string, the DVD's feature commentary (by director, cowriter, and producer) is almost as entertaining as the film itself.

Like other reviewers, I first thought I was watching a real documentary - it's that good. I cringed as I watched "Mr. Lowery," who doesn't seem to be suited to the teaching profession. "Coach Webb" was totally believable in the way she connected to her students and alienated her coworkers. The assistant principal was perfect. "Mr Stroope" was a little over the top as he drew his students into his quest to be "teacher of the year."

I would agree completely with reviewers who are happy to see a movie that doesn't feature a heroic teacher defying the system or smooth, beautiful spoiled teens. This movie works because it's just so...real.

The DVD is worth watching for all the bonus material, especially the director's commentary. The work is almost entirely improv and some cast members are new to acting. The entire film was "in the can" for less than $10K. The narrators point out many small but significant points that most audience members will miss.

I saw this in the theaters 6 times during the 7 week run it had in Austin, TX. Two of those times the audience was FULL of teachers who loved it. Me...I'm an engineer, and our 30 member department went to see it one afternoon and many of them laughed long and hard. NOTE a correction to the editorial review above - the film never tells if Lowrey resigned or not.

I actually thought this was a real documentary by the guy who filmed Super Size Me about the struggles of novice teachers until a goofy dream sequence, which made it obvious that none of it was real. I realized this was actually a mockumentary in the style of the TV show The Office. I think the filmmakers should have left this fantasy sequence out, because, while funny, it took me out of the movie. The film felt very authentic until that sequence. It felt like a warts and all portrait of teaching, not something all glossy like Mr. Holland's Opus or Mr. Chips. The actors are very natural in their roles and look like ordinary people, not movie stars. A good film, but it should have cut out the dream sequence and the other few scenes (like one with a teacher throwing a desk) that ruined the real-life feel of the film. I would definitely recommend this to teachers or those thinking of becoming teachers.

Most people who've ever gone through public school or who've had a kid in public school--in other words, most everyone--can wallpaper their house with horror stories about teachers. Eccentricity, incompetence, arrogance, near-illiteracy in some cases, bureaucratic stupidity--on and on the tales go. There's a lot of urban myth to the stories, but there are occasional glimmers of truth.

What we almost never talk about is how demanding and frequently unrewarding public school teaching can be. Director Mike Akel, himself a former teacher, reminds us of this from the get-go in his wonderful "Chalk" by stating at the film's beginning that 50% of public school teachers quit in their first three years. The rest of the film, hilarious at times, touching at others, helps us understand why.

The action focuses on a number of personalities: the brandnew and incredibly--but lovably--geeky and awkward Mr. Lowrey (Troy Schremmer), the pushy but insecure Coach Webb (Janelle Schremmer, Troy's real-life spouse), the bumbling and ambitious Young Turk Mr. Stroope (Chris Masse), and the overworked Assistant Principle Ms. Reddell (Shannon Haragan). A great deal of the dialogue could well be improvisational. It certainly has the feel of spontaneity to it (that's meant as a compliment, by the way). Each in his or her own way is incredibly conscientious, eager to help kids, flawed in one way or another (teachers are, after all, human beings), and faced with a daily barrage of challenges that would cripple most of us. (As a rather worn-out principle tells Ms. Reddell at one point, he looked forward to becoming an administrator so that he wouldn't have to take his work home with him--papers to grade, etc. And he doesn't. That's the good news. The bad news that he's now at work 12 hours a day, plus half of each weekend.)

Instead of tying up loose ends in a nice, happy ending, Akel skillfully closes the film on an ambiguous note that leaves the viewer with mixed emotions.

A very good indie film: well-acted, nicely shot, funny, with a message that provokes thought and compassion. Keep it in mind the next time you get mad at one of your kid's teachers.

The low-budget comedy "Chalk" provides a welcome antidote to all those inspirational, cookie-cutter crowd-pleasers like "Freedom Writers" and "Dangerous Minds" that Hollywood routinely proffers as its answer to our troubled schools.

Although this is a scripted, fictional film, co-writers Mike Akel (who is also the director) and Chris Mass (who also plays one of the teachers) have given "Chalk" the look and feel of a slice-of-life documentary. Director Akel has trained his cameras on a handful of young teachers and one first-year administrator as they go about the business of molding young minds at a fictional school called Harrison High (though the location remains unidentified, the movie itself was filmed in Austin, Texas). Yet, these are not your typical movie "super teachers" who, through sheer force of personality and a series of well-crafted lessons, are able to convert their initially hardened students into lifelong lovers of learning. Rather, the teachers here are well-meaning but imperfect mortals who wage a daily battle with students who won't learn, copiers that won't copy, and colleagues who often don`t see eye-to-eye even on the most rudimentary aspects of teaching and learning, let alone on how best to run a school. Frankly, it's a good day for these teachers if the students aren't fighting in the lunch area, hiding the chalk as a lame practical joke, or arguing about why they aren't allowed to use a cell phone in class. And there are times in which the teachers themselves come across as more insecure, petty and immature than even their own students. Yet, there are also those special moments when the teachers and pupils manage to connect on a meaningful level - those little flashes of hope that the whole frustrating ordeal might just possibly amount to something worthwhile in the end.

With a droll sense of humor and a flair for gentle satire, the filmmakers poke affectionate fun at the life of a teacher, while at the same time evincing a genuine respect for the characters and what it is they are trying to do. The movie acknowledges that teaching is a difficult profession, yet it doesn't insult those who dedicate their lives to it by pretending that all one need have to be successful is a magical combination of motivational speeches and good intentions.

The cast members, most of whom are newcomers to the movies, never undercut the joke by winking at the camera or treating the material with anything less than total earnestness. They genuinely appear to be ad-libbing their lines, lending to the film the air of spontaneity and improvisation befitting a documentary. And the movie ends on a note of quiet poignancy that reminds us of just how powerful a tool restraint can be in making a point.

By refusing to resort to either melodrama or hyperbole, "Chalk" paints about as realistic a portrait of life in the classroom as I've seen in quite some time.

Chalk is the story of one year in the lives of multiple teachers. I loved this film. I am in school now to get a degree to teach high school history, so I thought I would check this out. My father was a high school principal so I have seen teachers out of the classroom in candid settings such as a teachers lounge, or out at a dinner partaking in a few drinks, and this movie captures this perfectly. It shows that most teachers are just younger people trying to figure out life. Those of us with children think of them as Teachers 24/7 but this film reminds us that they date, drink, and have issues just like the rest of us. I would highly recommend this film if you like the Office.

It may have slipped through the cracks of critical acclaim, film festival dominance, and (dare I say it?) commercial success, but Chalk is still one of the most likable films of 2007. It's a funny, fast-paced, and at times touching mockumentary, full of deliciously awkward social pitfalls and wonderfully drawn characters. The movie skillfully avoids the less scintillating aspects of the mockumentary genre, easily sidestepping the obvious humor and cheap shots the worst parodies. Its characters aren't caricatures, its situations aren't contrived or cliched, and its humor isn't forced. Instead, the laughs are genuine and hearty, the best jokes unexpected and insightful. The characters and situations should ring resoundingly true for anybody who's ever navigated the American high school system. They're well-drawn and three dimensional, full of quirks both lovable and repelling. At times, Chalk approaches the same lofty highs reached by the Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm; it makes the audience laugh at and sympathize with the characters at the same time, simultaneously evoking comedy and drama, manic glee and emotional resonance. Really, it's a hell of a trick. The result is a hilarious, entertaining, satirical, and affectionate portrait of our education system.

Still, I find it hard to give Chalk more than four stars. It's a fantastic film, to be sure, but not really a masterpiece. It's too slight for that: The laughs come fast and easy, but there's nothing here that'll have you rolling in the aisles. Similarly, the story itself is sweet and often affecting, but it falls just short of packing an emotional wallop. All of which makes Chalk a fun, lighthearted, and utterly accessible romp (and maybe even a classic in its own right), but little more than that.

CHALK is a fake documentary that follows the school year of three teachers, with varying years of experience, and a first-year assistant principal at Harrison High School in Austin, Texas. The main characters are Mr. Stroope (Chris Mass) an overly confident third-year social studies teacher who is determined to be named "Teacher of the Year" before the year's end; Coach Webb (Janelle Schremmer) a determined, passionate, and sometimes pushy second-year P.E. teacher and volleyball coach who fights against stereotypes and is determined to change things and people, but won't change herself; Mrs. Reddell (Shannon Haragan) a former music teacher of five years who is now a new assistant principal after the former assistant principal was arrested and found guilty of criminal activities; and Mr. Lowrey (Troy Schremmer) a former business executive who left to corporate world to seek employment where he could make a difference in the world and is now a very anxious and nervous first-year history teacher.

CHALK is unlike any other film I have seen before about teaching. Most teaching movies revolve around one or a group of inspiring teachers who are shown changing the lives of their students, involves some hugely dramatic conflict, and wraps up nicely at the end with the teacher being acknowledged for the huge impact they have had upon their students. CHALK is not like that. The back of the DVD case describes being a "doc comedy style of THE OFFICE" but at a high school. That's a fairly accurate description of style of the movie. However, it's not very descriptive about what CHALK is really like. I am a high school teacher myself and in my opinion the film, though fictional, gives a fairly decent overview of what teaching is really like: the few highs, the miserable lows, and the huge amount of frustration and inadequacy of each day. There's a mixture of excitement and drama, comedy, lots of frustration, and just the right about of boredom and tedium. The film probably won't inspire anyone to enter the profession, but it does provide a nice glimpse into the life of a high school teacher.

There are some discrepancies in the movie and between real teaching. For example, the classes seen in the movie are much too small than the typical high school classroom and there is no mention about testing and the impact that has and is having on changing the typical day in a high school. Still, the movie does a better job than any other teaching film about what teaching is really like. Mike Akel and Chris Mass are the "writers" of the film and Akel's also is the director, and Mass is one of the stars as Mr. Stroope. Both of these men were former teachers themselves and I believe their experiences are what grounds the movie (mostly) in reality. The film was made for around $10,000 and much of the script was improvised around an outline provided by Akel and Mass. The result is exceptional and is a movie I think that everyone could benefit from watching, though not necessarily enjoying.

It should be noted that though all of the acting in the film is exceptional, there are some standout performances. The first is that of the students. The students in the movie are real life students, many who had either Mr. Akel's or Mr. Mass as their teacher, and gave up most of their summer to not be paid so they could be in the movie. Their actions and dialogue are real and add to the grounded feeling of the film; they are just being themselves which is what much of the greatest acting ever performed really is. The other standout performance in the film is that of Troy Schemmer who performs Mr. Lowrey. Schemmer does an excellent job of capturing all the quirks and idiosyncrasies of a nervous, first-year teacher who is just trying to make a difference in the world and share a passion of his for those younger than he. Lowrey is the heart and soul of the movie and the story, though seemingly not intentionally, revolves around him. For example, the film opens with the statement that "50% of all teachers quit within the first three years," and it ends with an ambiguous scene of Mr. Lowrey packing his things away for the summer, leaving the audience to guess for themselves if he returns or leaves and joins the ranks of the statistics.

CHALK is an A film that everyone should see at least once. Teachers will love it because it is so real and filmmakers should watch it because it illustrates that a huge budget isn't necessary to make a great movie as long as there is a solid story and script.

The DVD includes a commentary with Chris Mass, Mike Akel, and Morgan Spurlock; essays from the cast and crew about their favorite teachers; two mock Harrison High School PSAs; a featurette entitled "The Chalk Journey" about how the movie came to open in New York as a feature; a playful short film with characters from the cast entitled BROKEN DREAMS; and the extended trailer for the movie.