MartinHafer This is an amazingly dreary and uninteresting mockumentary about a fictitious school. In this school, all the teachers seem to be idiots and the administration isn't any better. The students are uninterested in learning and based on the school environment, I wouldn't be either.The problem with this film is that the acting and the characters are too broad and stereotypical. There just isn't a lot of depth to the thing and the acting is rather amateurish. Heck, if I said "teachers are stupid" then that is about as deep as this film.Because it's so dull and doesn't offer a lot of insights, I don't really know who this is written for or who would want to see it. I am a school teacher, and I found it unfunny since the teachers were so bad and so incompetent that it really wasn't something I could connect with or appreciate. There is no subtlety or insight for me--perhaps you might enjoy it more.Not without some minor laughs, but that's about all. It's easy to say teachers are stupid (and I'll admit, some really are), but there isn't any message beyond that in this film.

boylel I rented the DVD because I come from a family of teachers, and one of them recommended that I watch the film in order to gain a better understanding of their jobs. I found it to be entertaining, but I obviously didn't appreciate it as much as teachers seem to, just as they probably don't appreciate all of the humor I find in "Office Space".The teachers who call this "true to life" must mean this in the same sense that a Korean War veteran once told me that M*A*S*H was true to life-- as a good caricature of some of the more extreme people and situations, intermixed with some reminders of what daily life was like, not as anything close to a realistic snapshot.I don't want to believe that there are really very many high school teachers like that. I wouldn't expect students to feel much respect for any of them.Time for me to get back to my TPS reports.

Bruce Burns I graduated college in 1994 with a bachelors degree in Government, but was unable to get into any post-graduate program that I applied for. So I have had a series of low-paying jobs that don't require more than a high school education. Ever since then, my mother has been asking me why don't I take a salaried position as a teacher like my brother. The trouble is that my brother hates teaching, and only took it up because he couldn't find anything else. And from all of my other friends who have become teachers (or who used to be teachers but burned out), I have heard that it is a high-stress job with very few rewards.The movie "Chalk" is made by a group of teachers and does nothing to disabuse me of my beliefs about teaching as a profession. The teachers in the film are portrayed as a bunch of social misfits with serious relationship issues and middling intellects--in other words, not the sort of people who should be teaching kids. The one constant in their world is a lack of respect: not only from the students, but also from the parents and even each other.Troy Schremmer is the emotional core of the film as Mr. Lowery, a first-year history teacher who used to work in high tech. He is shocked to learn that reading "Classroom Management for Dummies" is inadequate preparation for teaching, and is intimidated by his students (and sometimes even their parents). Janelle Schremmer plays Coach Webb, who whines about men assuming she's a lesbian because she's a PE coach who doesn't wear makeup and keeps her hair cut short. She develops a crush on Mr. Lowery during the course of the year. Screenwriter Chris Mass plays Mr. Stroope, who makes up for his lack of brains with his enthusiasm for teaching and massive ego. His goal is to become teacher of the year, not by hard work and discipline but by trash-talking the other teachers and treating his students as if they were his peers. And there is Shannon Harrigan as Mrs. Reddell, a former choir teacher promoted to Assistant Principal. She is harried by all the other teachers--once her peers--expecting her to side with them in their various squabbles with each other, and her new responsibilities are taking a toll on her marriage.Many viewers have enthusiastically praised this film and compared it with the works of Christopher Guest--"This is Spinal Tap" in particular. The thing is, though, that Guest is a professional actor and director who had years to hone his craft before the cameras started rolling on "Spinal Tap". Michael McKean, Rob Reiner, and Harry Shearer also are show-biz professionals with established careers that predate "Spinal Tap". The director, writers and actors in "Chalk" are all actual teachers at the school where it was filmed. Many say this is an asset in that it gives the film an air of authenticity. I found it insufferable watching a bunch of people who can't act in a poorly shot film. And am I the only one who's sick of hand-held DV?I did like the fact that the movie avoids all the usual Hollywood clichés found in the typical "inspirational" film about teaching. And there was one funny moment when Mrs. Redell sings "We can teach if we want to" to the tune of "The Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats.But overall this is the work of amateurs. Appropriate perhaps to show to their families, students and co-workers, but not worthy of a paying audience. 5 out of 10.

tracey I saw this at the NYC premier, with a group of teachers from my school. We had the opportunity to meet the cast and Morgan Spurlock. I loved the trailer and hoped the movie was as good as it promised. I wasn't disappointed. We saw a lot of ourselves in the movie, which made it quite funny at some times and quite poignant at others. The fact that real teachers and students were in this movie made all that much more realistic. It's a movie that shows what it's like "in the trenches" so to speak. They got it right. The parts we found funny were funny because it happened to us. We were there. The struggles, the friendships, the frustration. The faculty meetings. It was real. It wasn't a feel good, good things always happen kind of movie, but it was great!!