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MOVIES / ON DVD / CHALK
Chalk

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Chalk (2007)

79%
100%
100%
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79 %
Reviews Counted: 38 Fresh: 30  Rotten:8 Average Rating: 7/10
Runtime: 84 mins
Synopsis:
Set in the world of public education, CHALK takes a satirical and poignant look at the challenges faced by the teachers of Harrison High. The movie focuses on two history teachers, Mr. Lowrey and Mr. Stroope, and the psychological hardships that they encounter during the school semester.... [More]
Set in the world of public education, CHALK takes a satirical and poignant look at the challenges faced by the teachers of Harrison High. The movie focuses on two history teachers, Mr. Lowrey and Mr. Stroope, and the psychological hardships that they encounter during the school semester. [Less]

Genre: Comedies

Producer: Morgan Spurlock

DVD Info

Release:

Jan 9, 2009

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital - English
  • Subtitles - English, Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - Mike Akel - Writer; Chris Mass - Actor/Writer; Morgan Spurlock - Producer
  • Behind The Scenes
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Interviews- Cast & Crew
  • Trailer - Theatrical Trailer

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image

Chalk's aim is to clue you in why 50% of teachers quit within the first three years.

Full Review | Comment
02/06/08 09:45 PM
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
10/11/07 03:15 AM
Jason Ferguson
Orlando Weekly
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A special gem of a film that demands a giant audience... One of the finest valentines to the profession ever crafted.

Full Review | Comment
09/24/07 05:33 PM
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com
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There are still moments when the tone is uncertain and the actors visibly struggle, but for the most part there's a freshness about the performances that could probably not have been achieved in any other way.

Full Review | Comment
09/14/07 06:04 PM
John Hartl
Seattle Times
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The movie has 'heart' in a way that doesn't feel cloying or dishonest. And the cast -- especially Janelle Schremmer -- just nails it.

Full Review | Comment
09/14/07 06:03 PM
M.E. Russell
Oregonian
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Chalk might have been both funnier and more penetrating as a real documentary.

Full Review | Comment
09/14/07 06:02 PM
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
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...may be a harbinger of a new kind of cinema, less oriented on big-face stars and spectacular special effects.

Full Review | Comment
09/14/07 04:56 AM
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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[The filmmakers'] best intentions are better realized than their filmmaking ambitions.

Full Review | Comment
09/13/07 02:50 PM
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Ratings Image

Chalk is a gentle mockumentary about high school teachers -- so gentle, you wonder why anyone bothered. So gentle, it verges on 'what's the point?'

Full Review | Comment
09/07/07 03:58 PM
David Wiegand
San Francisco Chronicle
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The movie offers some modest, amusing and true lessons about an honorable profession.

Full Review | Comment
07/28/07 06:33 AM
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
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Like the teaching profession, Chalk is at times tedious and rewarding.

Full Review | Comment
07/16/07 03:15 PM
Larry Ratliff
San Antonio Express-News
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Chalk is a message from the horse’s mouth, and is thereby humorously instructive without ever becoming sarcastic or judgmental.

Full Review | Comment
06/13/07 03:15 AM
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
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Can we all come to a consensus that the whole mockumentary concept is played out?

Full Review | Comment
06/09/07 05:53 AM
David Fear
Time Out New York
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The indie film is funny and, at times, heartbreaking. Wisely, it avoids the happy ending that Hollywood would have insisted upon.

Full Review | Comment
06/08/07 04:08 PM
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
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An unassuming indie comedy that just happens to be terrific, Mike Akel's deceptively modest debut is, unfortunately, as likely to go unrewarded as the thousands of teachers who do a great job with little acknowledgment.

Full Review | Comment
06/08/07 04:07 PM
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News
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So convincingly acted that if it didn’t include brief interludes in which the grown-ups suddenly break into musical-comedy mode or reflect out loud in video diary segments, you might not guess it is fiction.

Full Review | Comment
06/08/07 11:17 AM
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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Might not be the high-school story most of us want to hear, but it's a true one, and Chalk tells it with insight, humor, and an appropriate touch of sadness.

Full Review | Comment
06/06/07 03:44 PM
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
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Its honest storytelling and painfully funny moments make up for the thrown-together feel.

Full Review | Comment
06/06/07 10:26 AM
Katey Rich
Film Journal International
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Chalk was actually shot in a loose, improvisational manner modeled after the films of Christopher Guest, and its best set-pieces are like devastatingly effective pin pricks at the Hollywood hot-air balloon of inspirational teacher/coach melodramas.

Full Review | Comment
06/06/07 10:25 AM
Scott Foundas
Village Voice
Ratings Image

Chalk mines nervous laughter from the gulf between teacher and student culture, and the contrast between how its simultaneously self-conscious and oblivious teachers see themselves, and how the rest of the world sees them.

Full Review | Comment
06/02/07 05:52 AM
Nathan Rabin
Onion AV Club
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Related Forums

REEL_REVIEWER
CHALK scores a JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD nomination for the 2007 Indepedent SPIRIT awards
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/29/07


REEL_REVIEWER
CHALK scores a JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD nomination for the 2007 Indepedent SPIRIT awards
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/29/07


REEL_REVIEWER
CHALK scores a JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD nomination for the 2007 Indepedent SPIRIT awards
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/29/07


REEL_REVIEWER
CHALK scores a JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD nomination for the 2007 Indepedent SPIRIT awards
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/29/07


This movie is awesome
by: xxzon 6/1/07
all

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