Synopsis
William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to a close student-teacher relationship, but results in a life lesson for Hundert that will still haunt him a quarter of a century later.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Kevin KlineWilliam Hundert
- Emile HirschSedgewick Bell
- Embeth DavidtzElizabeth
- Purva BediAnna Mehta
- Rob MorrowJames Ellerby
- Edward HerrmannHeadmaster Woodbridge
- Helen CareyMiss Johnston
- Jesse EisenbergLouis Masoudi
- Paul DanoMartin Blythe
- Katherine O'SullivanThe Nun
Recommandations
- 90
Washington Post
This isn't a stand up and cheer flick; it's a sit down and ponder affair. And thanks to Kline's superbly nuanced performance, that pondering is highly pleasurable. - 75
Charlotte Observer
Like the story, Kline builds in intensity: He has no flowery speeches that would be untrue to his character, but he leaves a clear impression of a man who values knowledge and the imparting of it above all else. - 63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Turns a blind eye to the very history it pretends to teach. - 63
Miami Herald
More than just another feel-good teacher movie. - 63
New York Post
Kline's divine -- alas, the film isn't. - 60
L.A. Weekly
This likable but utterly conventional movie works harder than is necessary to unpack for us Ethan Canin’s short story "The Palace Thief." - 50
The New York Times
Carefully sets itself up as an obvious, transparent morality play, and then just as deliberately refuses the easy payoff. This is both impressive and a little disingenuous: the film is in effect congratulating itself for refusing to offer a neat and tidy view of life without offering much else. - 50
Philadelphia Inquirer
Don't blame Kline. This most thoughtful of actors is trapped behind the lectern of a film that spouts contradictory lessons it can't reconcile.
