(rated PG 13, 109 mins.)
William Hundert (Kevin Kline) is a passionate and principled Classics professor at esteemed St. Benedict’s prep school, who finds his world shaken when a new student, Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch), walks into his classroom. While the movie is a close battle of wills, it differs from the usual Robin Williams of “Dead Poet’s Society” or Sidney Poitier in “To Sir With Love”. This story tackles a new dynamic with the mentored Bell’s father, a Virginia Senator (Harris Yulin), becoming a thorn in Hundert’s side. The film has a familiar feeling, but it also achieves a surprise ending, when we flash-forward twenty-five years later, to reveal how small judgements eventually played out in this protégé relationship. Kline acts the heck out of his role, born to be a private school teacher. Bell follows his outstanding performance in his string of bad boy roles following the highly acclaimed character in “Dangerous Lives Of Altar Boys.”
