Review of The Emperor's Club (2002) by Henrik S — 25 Sep 2008

A very wholehearted movie and it certainly is not easy to like it. Kevin Kline gives great performance and it is a shame that this peformance of his has virtually went unseen. The rest of the cast however is not very good I must say. It is no match for Dead Poets Society or The History Boys for example. The antagonistic character of a rascalish schoolboy giving Kline a hard time is painstakingly unbelievable and created without subtance and serves as mere reflector for the protagonists development as he faces his retirment and/or rectorship. Still, it is an enjoyable movie and highly recommend for fans of the neat sub genre that is classic-education movies that smell of pine.

And the score is by Newton-Howard, and it is a good one indeed.