Movie Review #1

"The Ron Clark Story"

8.     Movies. Give a review of the movie “The Ron Clark Story”. Comment on its tagline, “No one believed in them. Except him.”

I would like to tell you a review of the movie “The Ron Clark Story” directed by Randa Haines. The film stars Matthew Perry as Ron Clark, Brandon Mychal Smith as Tayshawn, Hannah Hodson as Shameika, Micah Stephen Williams as Julio and others. The film is the television drama which is set in Harlem, New York. 

"The Ron Clark Story" tells the real-life tale of Clark (Matthew Perry), a teacher from upstate New York who moves to Manhattan and re-instills courage and hope into the lives of many down-and-out students. Via highly innovative teaching strategies and rule sets Clark manages to turn several lives around and raises students' test scores to admirable levels. His star pupils include a young girl Shameika forced to both attend school and care for her siblings and a graffiti-prone young man Tayshawn who rechannels his energies into more traditional painting with Clark's encouragement. In the end, even when pneumonia threatens to keep Clark down, he refuses to let it. Mr. Clark's class gets the highest average in the state and Clark is regarded by his students as their best teacher.

Speaking about the actors it should be mentioned that their performance is great. Matthew Perry truly carries this movie. He is funny, heartfelt and real. Perry gives us all the elements of his personality that we fell in love with in “Friends” while also being able to show off his skill as a dramatic actor. He plays both the comedic and dramatic scenes equally well. Basically, he is perfect in this role, and this story is one that needed to be shared. Another stand out is 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 comes from an abusive home, and, in the end, this kid really holds his own having to portray someone with this life.

One of the merits of the film is its directing. In spite of the fact that “The Ron Clark Story” is a made-for-television film, it is really good made and for me it is one of the best biographical films. It is a fairly realistic depiction of the inner city school system in Harlem. However, Director Randa Haines resorts to melodramatic scenes on occasion, in order to embellish a story that doesn't really need melodrama in order to be interesting. Nevertheless, she wisely chooses to downplay a couple of subplots including Mr. Clark's low key romance with his friend Marissa, and his student's dysfunctional family lives.

In conclusion I want to say that “The Ron Clark Story” tagline is “No one believed in them. Except him”. In other words, this film concentrates on a teacher believing in the worth of every human being and finding ways to convince even the lowest performing students of their own potential. Ron fights his own self-doubt along the way as he teaches the students to believe in themselves, to set high goals, and guides them to recognizing their hidden potential. So every single kid has the same opportunities. All kids have different potential. Just need to encourage him/her to bring it about and use it like Ron did. The incredible passion that Ron exudes about teaching and just about life is an inspiration to anyone.