Chalk (2007)

Chalk rides on some well observed lessons in pain by a small group of teachers at Harrison High

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09/13/08

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

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02/06/08

A special gem of a film that demands a giant audience... One of the finest valentines to the profession ever crafted.

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09/24/07

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.

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09/14/07

The movie has 'heart' in a way that doesn't feel cloying or dishonest. And the cast -- especially Janelle Schremmer -- just nails it.

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09/14/07

Chalk might have been both funnier and more penetrating as a real documentary.

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09/14/07

...may be a harbinger of a new kind of cinema, less oriented on big-face stars and spectacular special effects.

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09/14/07

[The filmmakers'] best intentions are better realized than their filmmaking ambitions.

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09/13/07

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?'

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09/07/07

The movie offers some modest, amusing and true lessons about an honorable profession.

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07/28/07

Like the teaching profession, Chalk is at times tedious and rewarding.

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07/16/07

Chalk is a message from the horse’s mouth, and is thereby humorously instructive without ever becoming sarcastic or judgmental.

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06/13/07

Can we all come to a consensus that the whole mockumentary concept is played out?

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06/09/07

The indie film is funny and, at times, heartbreaking. Wisely, it avoids the happy ending that Hollywood would have insisted upon.

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06/08/07

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.

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06/08/07

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.

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06/06/07

Its honest storytelling and painfully funny moments make up for the thrown-together feel.

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06/06/07

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.

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06/06/07