Greetings,
You know the cliche story of a teacher who goes to work at some school in a "bad" area and tries to teach a bunch of "bad" kids and ends up changing their lives forever? Of course you do. We have had about a thousand movies with that as the main story. At first thought, it may be considered overdone. However, the fact that some of them are based on real people makes me not be so critical. You do have to admire someone who takes on such challenges without even knowing that they might become famous for it. Well, today, you're going to hear about one of those people as I review The Ron Clark Story.
This TV movie stars Matthew Perry in the title role. And let me just say that I am so pleased they cast him in this. It lets us go back to his pre-Friends days, when I called him a great dramatic actor. That happened after I saw him on an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 playing a guy who wasn't exactly the biggest fan of his own father. He was fantastic in that part. I was actually surprised when he showed up on Friends in a highly comedic role. He was great there, too, but I fear it led people to forget how good he was at drama. That's a main reason why I like this movie, with it coming out about two years after our goodbyes to Chandler Bing, because it reminded us, or showed some of us for the first time, just how talented Matthew Perry is at things other than comedy. Okay, enough kissing up. Let's get to the story.
This movie is about a teacher named Ron Clark who starts off working in a nice, safe school in North Carolina, but then decides to head off to the big, bad city of New York to teach at an inner city school. When he gets there, he specifically asks for the class full of "troubled" students. Needless to say, they do not exactly like this new teacher. Clearly, they just don't know how to react to someone who genuinely thinks they are intelligent and have potential. So they just do what you'd expect and misbehave.
Though it is a big challenge, Mr. Clark does all he can to try and win them over, using some very creative ideas, including a rap he writes about the presidents. Yeah, that's right. We get to see and hear Matthew Perry rap. Your reaction to this could probably go either way. Initially, I may have released a small eye roll, but then I thought, "Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do". After A LOT of resistance, the kids finally warm up to him, and eventually grow to really love him.
Once the kids start paying attention, we get to the core plot of the film, where he is trying to get them ready for state exams, whatever those are. During this time (but not necessarily in this order), he starts helping the kids outside of school, gets seriously ill, takes them to see The Phantom of the Opera, and even gets himself a forced love interest that doesn't exactly become one full on. I have a feeling this chick may have been added for dramatic effect, to show that he was a real person, not just a teacher. Hey, whatever. And of course, in the end, the kids do great on the test and we have a happy ending, where we get that typical text on the screen telling us more about the real life Ron Clark.
Okay, I can admit that, as much as I like this movie, it does have its flaws, naturally. It is, of course, predictable in the long run. I mean, was anyone really shocked that we got a happy ending? Oh, and they also throw in that obligatory well- behaved, likes to study, good kid in amongst all the "delinquents". Seriously, why in all heck is this kid in this class? It makes no sense. But, while I am discussing one of the kid characters, let me say something about the kid actors.
I am not exactly a huge fan of kids, particularly kids in the entertainment industry, but I kind of like these ones. They were all pretty decent. I know it's more difficult to play a kid when you are not one (speaking of 90210), but they were still good. Two of them did stand out, though. The first is Hannah Hodson, who plays Shameika. You could call her the main, I guess, antagonist, though I'm hesitant to call a kid that believe it or not. Still, she was the one who gave Mr. Clark the most trouble and was kind of the unofficial leader of the kids as they waged their little war against their new teacher. But then she ended up becoming very close to Mr. Clark. So this young young actress really showed a lot of range, and she did it well. Another stand out was Brandon Mychal Smith who plays Tayshawn. This character is very emotionally driven, particularly in some of his final scenes. He is a very talented artist who also comes from an abusive home, and, in the end, this kid really holds his own having to portray someone with this life.
But as good as the kids were, Matthew Perry was who truly carried this movie. He was funny and heartfelt and real. Basically, he was perfect in this role, and this story was one that needed to be shared. I certainly feel for really good teachers, especially these days, and it is good that the truly committed ones who try very hard to help their students fulfill their potential are more than just noticed.
Now I'm sure some people would call this movie a little sappy, but I do like it. I like to see people who do admirable things like this get some recognition for it beyond their weekly paycheck. I would certainly recommend this to anyone who is a teacher or just really appreciates them. Or anyone who wants to see Matthew Perry in something even better than Friends.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
