Detention

A hilarious satire of contemporary education and today's coddled youth, this little-seen comedy rates as a real triumph for writer/director Anderson (whose "Positive ID" was pretty terrific, too).

Good luck finding it, though -- after some festivals, it's kind of disappeared.

The advance reviews of writer & director Andy Anderson's Detention prepared me for a '90s version of To Sir with Love, and indeed, the first part of this film is along that line, except that now we have not only uncontrollable kids but an adminstration that has lost the will and the power to do anything about them. The teachers are bound by political correctness, a starvation budget, fear of lawsuits, and a thousand other plagues on the education system. Even Sidney Poitier would be helpless were he bound this tightly by a legal system gone mad.

I kept waiting for Bill Walmsley, the hero teacher of this movie, confidently played by John Davies, to work the Stand and Deliver miracle, but it doesn't come, and the movie slows, when suddenly Walmsley tries an approach that rips the conventions right out from under this movie. No, this isn't To Sir with Love or Stand and Deliver or even The Dead Poets Society. Yet in one fell swoop, the movie becomes darkly funny while raising some serious questions about how difficult public education is in a world run by lawyers. It's a sure sign of how crazy the education system has become when the craziest arguments for reform make the most sense I've heard in years.

I saw this one but it had been renamed "Learning Curve" and it's pretty hard to find. Still, it's worth the search if you like cute nymphettes running around in terror with very few clothes on. The cinematography is moody and atmospheric which lends extra punch to the suspense. The actors aren't stars, but most of the main leads have a charismatic charm that plays well in a movie like this. The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the sound editing. In places it was hard to hear some of the dialog but it might just be the print I had. This movie actually has a taut plot, too, so it's not just valuable for its erotic qualities. Maybe I'm no highbrow cinema critic, but I know what I like. This movie was hot, fun and easy to get into.

This film was obviously made on the cheap, but its low production values didn't prevent me from enjoying it. It is a dark comedy that is quirky and funny, but has enough of a hard edge to keep it out of the mainstream.

The movie is about a man that has accepted a teaching job at a high school where the students are out of control. What he decides to do about it is technically child abuse, but is fun and fascinating to watch.

"You my be right, but I may be crazy..."

After some personal trauma, Wilson Walmsley (John S. Davies) is invited to work as a substitute teacher in a suburban public high school. He finds lack of authority and interest in the school direction and teacher body; uncontrolled and abusive students in an environment of disrespect and lack of discipline. He becomes close to the arts teacher Louise (Marsha Dietlein) and to the smart and abused student Joey (Forest Denbow). When he saves Louise from a sexual assault of the student Davey (Meason Wiley), Louise and he are sued by Davey's family lawyer; then Davey's girlfriend beats Louise. The upset Walmsley lures, drugs and kidnaps Joey and six troublemakers of his class and brings them to his isolate real estate in Alpine, Texas. When the seven students wake up, they are naked and caged in cages with electric fences. When Walmsley arrives, he advises that his class will begin, and any disrespect or lack of discipline will be duly punished, and shots Joey to make clear his intentions. And the class begins.

"Detention" is a surprisingly great low budget movie. The theme of a new arrival teacher in a school with troublemakers was originally explored in the masterpiece "To Sir With Love"; more recently I recall the good "Dangerous Minds", the reasonable "The Substitute" and some others. However, "Detention" uses in addition the concept of "The Collector", but with a teacher that seems to become temporarily deranged and resolves to brainwash the problematic students of his class with education and good manners. The final situation is predictable, and the greatest flaw in the plot is how he could afford to buy a trailer with a car if he seemed to be broken when he accepted the invitation and was stolen with only four dollars in the wallet. However, Walmsley is a mystery, since his private life, his trauma and his motives are never disclosed to the audience, only for Louise but in private. I liked his explanation how people is brainwashed everywhere and the mission of a teacher, therefore better off by a teacher. The acting is excellent and this film is a great entertainment. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Enjaulados" ("Caged")