Thicker Than Blood

In a lot of ways - at least the most important ones - this film takes the whole "teacher saves student" genre and gives it some actual life and intelligence. There's is a certain measure of self-awareness to how the script subverts the old clichés, making sure that it takes the opposite expected approach at key moments. In the end, this doesn't make it more realistic, just more different. At one point, the main character watches a portion of "Stand and Deliver", which is, interestingly, more raw and realistic than this film.

There's a kind of episodic approach to "Thicker Than Blood". It ends up feeling a little bit like an entire television season condensed to a single film. I believe that this takes away from the overall story. We're left without a lot of connecting tissue to keep it together. The emotional crescendo that finally rounds out the film loses some of it's punch because we're robbed of the quiet moments in the getting there.

But there are several good points. Richard Pearce works well with his actors, as he nearly always does. Working within a fairly standard script, he pulls an extra unexpected bit out of them in the process. The actors themselves are believable, which is a plus. Without the on-screen chemistry of Dan Futterman and Carlo Alban, there'd be little else to hold it all together. Alban, especially, has a kind of painful real life quality to him. If this type of story is your sort, it's up there with films like "Up the Down Staircase", "Stand and Deliver" and the "Boston Public" series. If it isn't, you might still get a little something from the experience.

I am a teacher, and I believe I have seen every film made in this genre: white teacher tries to go out and save the underprivileged urban children. This is the best of the lot. It is unpretentious and doesn't pretend to have all the answers. Without spoiling the ending, I will say that "Hollywood" would never have allowed it. I think it is a worthwhile film.

This is a good movie, a realistic one; does anybody know where I can get the DVD? I will never understand why German TV - journals always write the worst things about this movie (...which is called in Germany "DANGEROUS KIDS-HIGHSCHOOL OF HOPE" - isn't that a stupid name for a film!!). Maybe it is because they don't like to see Mickey Rourke as a clergyman. This is so stupid: Finally, he is an actor, and a good one, at any rate. It is as stupid as if a journal magazine would condemn a movie because Will Smith has a serious part to play. I believe, those writers never really had a look at that film by themselves. - By the way, I liked the end of the movie, although it is sad, because that's the way such things happen in real life.

Very strong. Saw this a couple years ago but was compelled to submit only now due to the outrageously misleading two line post on main page. This was a tough, extremely well written, realistic piece featuring fine work by Dan Futterman and that rarest of rare these days, an excellent performance from Mickey Rourke as, of all things, a priest. He is remarkably disciplined and convincing for a change. Though it was made for cable this movie (along with HBO's recent "Cheaters") is superior to 95% of the junk that gets dumped into the neighborhood multiplex. A great deal of care and intelligence went into the making of this one. Check it out if you happen to be into that sort of thing.

True stories are always invaluable when they are reconstructed on film. The great actuing qualities of both Peter Strauss and Rachel Nicotin add to the convincing authenticity of the story, which must touch the hearts of any viewer, especially parents. There is not much drama here, no violence, only emotional passions, especally on the part of the father, and the general mood of the film is rather languid and soft. The one contrast in the drama is the surprise entrance of the biological father, who makes a rather bizarre supporting figure bordering on the ridiculous, underlining the obvious syndrome of an unnatural mother. The question is how the husband could trust such a mother at all, with her cocaine fallacy and spurious past, and who never told her husband anything, but he still gave her a chance with very interesting consequences.