Review of The Class (2008) by Brandon W — 20 Aug 2009

Started out wonderfully, but the ending just leaves too much hanging. Really disappointed in the ending. I know it can be said the point is to make you think about education and discipline and such, but the film already accomplishes that without needing to force it through an ending that leaves all of the character outcomes up in the air.

As for its message, all I got out of it was that I'm going to homeschool my kids and there is no way I'm going to let them go to schools (public or private) where discipline is so disconnected and, more importantly, education takes a back seat to student issues. There was no learning going on in that classroom. And I found the girl at then saying she didn't learn anything to be such a sad revelation, but very true. How could any of them have truly learned anything in that environment?

As another viewer said next to me when it ended: "perfect example of why statism sucks.".

There was justice, no consequence for action, just a bunch of silly blather. Had it ended and had there been consequences, and character outcomes, I probably would have enjoyed this much more. I probably would have given it 4 or 5 stars, but as it is, it really failed to be a movie, and was more of an attempt at being a vehicle for a message of reform, and as such, it failed because the reform it hopes for won't solve the problems, only deepen them. The problems are deeply rooted in the removal of the role and rights associated with property ownership and private property, and personal responsibility. Not in troubled students or teacher discipline or class funding.

Blah... waste of time...