Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 43
Fresh: 34 | Rotten: 9
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 13
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 3,763
Four educators muddle through another year at a typical American high school in this mockumentary comedy. Mr. Lowery (Troy Schremmer), Mr. Stroope (Chris Mass), and Coach Webb (Janelle Schremmer) are three teachers doling out knowledge at a high school in Austin, TX. Mr. Lowery is new to teaching, and has to deal with his own inexperience as well as a decided lack of enthusiasm for history among his students; it doesn't help Lowery that the kids quickly learn how to push his buttons. Mr. Stroope
Feb 9, 2007 Wide
Sep 25, 2007
Arts Alliance
All Critics (46) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (35) | Rotten (9) | DVD (2)
Chalk might have been both funnier and more penetrating as a real documentary.
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?'
The movie offers some modest, amusing and true lessons about an honorable profession.
Chalk is a message from the horse's mouth, and is thereby humorously instructive without ever becoming sarcastic or judgmental.
The indie film is funny and, at times, heartbreaking. Wisely, it avoids the happy ending that Hollywood would have insisted upon.
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.
Chalk rides on some well observed lessons in pain by a small group of teachers at Harrison High
Chalk's aim is to clue you in why 50% of teachers quit within the first three years.
Mockumentary shines light on high school teachers.
A special gem of a film that demands a giant audience... One of the finest valentines to the profession ever crafted.
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.
The movie has 'heart' in a way that doesn't feel cloying or dishonest. And the cast -- especially Janelle Schremmer -- just nails it.
...may be a harbinger of a new kind of cinema, less oriented on big-face stars and spectacular special effects.
[The filmmakers'] best intentions are better realized than their filmmaking ambitions.
Like the teaching profession, Chalk is at times tedious and rewarding.
This film meant to be touching, inspirational, and a behind the scenes look at the fate of people thrust or placed in teaching professions. Along the way someone decided to also make this a mockumentary, either because they didn't have enough money to make it into a real film or they were just lazy. The supposed funny
June 1, 2011Super Reviewer
hmmmm. I wanted it to be much better than it was. It had it's moments, but all in all it was a little lame.
September 6, 2010Super Reviewer
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