Chalk
Studio: Arts Alliance America
Rated: NONE
WorkNameSort: Chalk
Although the first thing you’ll probably notice about Chalk is the “Morgan Spurlock Presents” preceding its title, the film is not the same sort of true-life exploit as Super Size Me. But that’s not to say that Chalk isn’t as topical or as realistic as producer Spurlock’s Big Mac attack. Taking an Office-style mockumentary approach to the teaching profession, director Mike Akel exaggerates the realities of high-school faculty life just enough to point out the ridiculous absurdities and petty frustrations that drive so many teachers out of the profession. Using real-life Texas high-school students and a cast of gifted improv actors, Akel never lets Chalk get bogged down by attempting to explain the deficiencies in No Child Left Behind or faculty funding. Instead, by presenting the real-life struggles and squabbles of those people on the front lines of public-school education, Chalk engagingly makes the all-too-obvious point that these hardworking folks deserve much more respect and admiration than they currently receive.
This article appears in Oct 10-16, 2007.