Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story

I love true life stories, and love Jamie Gertz, but I was disappointed with her and the script, although the move was good overall. The idea that she would walk in and be able to immediately say "you are so valuable" or something like that seems just a bit arrogant. She would not have gained their trust in the first day or week. Putting her students on the spot so soon in front of their peers was another thing that looked unrealistic.

I don't know if I misunderstood the timing or what. Later, her relationship was more realistic, but the lines just as saccharine.

The kids were great. Their realities were intense and realistic, and heartwrenching. Her having to come to grips with her own reality was important; it created an equality between her and that kids that was realistic.

Very good, but not great.

I've not seen nor heard anything about this movie until today, I looked up the summary (below) and here is my assessment without being a movie critic: Being an ex-student at Smiley High School and having family and friends and their children attend Smiley, I can truly say that Smiley High School is not the perfect school but it is no tougher than any other school in Houston. It is not a school in the 'projects' as one commenter stated. To say that 'virtually all the students have at least one parent incarcerated' is bull! ALL THE SCHOOLS IN HOUSTON, OR ANY OTHER CITY/STATE HAVE STUDENTS WHOSE PARENTS HAVE BEEN OR ARE INCARCERATED, WHO'VE BEEN RAPED, ASSAULTED OR WHATEVER AND THAT DOES'NT MAKE THE SCHOOL A TOUGH SCHOOL. IT'S STUDENTS WHO'VE BEEN DEALT A BAD HAND....Wherever! DON'T TRY TO SELL A MOVIE ON PARTIAL TRUTHS! The program is to be commended, it's intent is awesome..to help the students take a different road than their parents, but do not portray the school as a whole of what it is not! There are no more nor less criminals or victims walking the halls of Smiley HS than in any other school in either a poor or rich neighborhood.

IT'S AN INJUSTICE TO OVERLOOK THE HARD WORK BY A GOOD PORTION OF THE STUDENT BODY WHOSE TRYING TO SUCCEED IN SPITE OF THEIR HARD LUCK OR THE LACK OF MONEY BECAUSE THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS WAS POCKETING IT INSTEAD OF UTILIZING AS IT SHOULD'VE.

MY sister has a written article where the principals, several teachers and students from M.B. Smiley HS were interviewed and they were in total disagreement in how the school and the characters were played out in the movie.

This is a true story about what education should be like in the United States. It's a story about one teacher who cared enough about the kids to do whatever it took to help these kids get their education and to graduate. This is a story about rising up above the perceived problems and taking charge of your destiny. This is the best movie I've seen in my life! Based upon the real life person Marilyn Gambrell who teaches these children to rise above the problems. She teaches them not only about the subject in school that she is there for, but she also teaches them about respecting each other & themselves. She also gets each one of these kids to graduate! The one kid that was expelled promised to come back next year. Through all of this, she even went up against the faculty when they wanted to ax her program. She went up against them because she believed in the kids that much. She took the worst kids in the district and made them into winners. This true story shows you how anybody can be a winner!

Fighting the odds was a very good movie, containing a great cast. Jamie Gertz did a phenomenal job, as well as Ernie Hudson and Sicily. This movie is a must see for not only kids with the same situations as the kids in the movie, but younger kids as well as teens. I felt really liberated as I watched this movie, I felt as if I should reach out to kids with similar situations in my city. Lifetime does not show this movie enough, and they should. Now that I've seen it, I'm going to get some kids at my school to watch it so they can maybe get some courage and see other kids going through what they are going through. So if you haven't seen it, now is the time to see it. It is inspirational, enjoyable, and for all to see.

Although you can tell that the movie, made for TV, was not a blockbuster, it drives home a very key issue experienced in our society today. I personally have never gone through some of the experiences of the children portrayed in the movie but I'm close to people who have. I felt the sincerity, pain, frustration, agony and the need to survive in every minute watched. You can tell that what actually took place at M. B. Smiley High School was a lot more than what TV could provide. It was definitely enough to get the message across though. I recommend this movie for all students of inner cities. I think it should be a requirement. Excellent and two thumbs up!