Every school has a teacher whose word is taken at face value as a command: here at Lourdes, we have Mr. Decker, who is also a movie aficionado-and is also not adverse to suggesting that I check out `The Emperor's Club'. I usually do because I respect his judgement, but also because my Political Science class with him is one of the harder ones in the school. With this slightly less-than-altruistic motive in mind, I set off to a film that was fairly high on my list of movies to see and was prepared to either be disappointed or surprised.
`The Emperor's Club' starts out in medias res with our protagonist, retired classics teacher William Hundert (Kevin Kline) arriving at a posh resort. Now how could anyone not related to a Fortune 500 executive afford a stay there? The answer lies in the past-1976 to be exact-in St. Benedict's, an exclusive male-only private school with a penchant for the classics.
It is at St. Benedict's that Mr. Hundert holds sway over the Classics department as a truly outstanding teacher who manages to reach and inspire his students from the Indian workhorse, Deepak Mehta (Rishi Mehta) to a Martin Blythe (Paul Dano), a legacy student and on to the smart-but-with-a-swagger Louis Masoudi (Jessie Eisenberg). But when Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch) enters Hundert's class and subverts the students with his feckless rebel routine that brings him C's and D's when he could very well be earning top marks.
At St. Ben's, there is an annual contest between the top three students in Classics for the `Mr. Julius Caesar' title. In the true Hollywood fashion, Bell catches fire and earns his way into the contest-at the expense of Hundert's ethics, for it was Hundert who used this newfound impetus to bump the third qualifier (Blythe) in favor of the fourth place finisher (Bell). The contest goes on (no spoiler here) and then 25 years later, the grown Bell (Joel Gretsch), who really has not changed, wants a rematch, hence the entrance of Hundert at the resort and the conclusion of this summary.
I'd like to get one thing off of my chest-I would give my left hand to be able to have a Classics course (Latin is good, but not enough history) at Lourdes. The Roman Empire is one of the most fascinating things in my mind, so that stance might skew my review a bit in favor of `The Emperor's Club'.
Not that my opinion needs much skewing-while the film is not great, it is certainly very good. Kevin Kline as a teacher was an excellent casting choice-I could see parts of my teachers in him (and certainly that must have been what the film was looking for in this role) and Kline brings a sincerity to the screen that is unmistakable. Also, kudos should go out Emile Hirsch for a performance that is right-on as a trouble student. On the whole, the acting was solid if not good.
The plot, while being straightforward, is exactly what I was looking for here. Depending on one's level of cynicism, the plot either takes a couple unexpected turns or is completely predictable. Still, it is very nice to see a movie that does not feature violence, explosions, and other physical mayhem. The thing that I would tweak if I were to rewrite the script is a purging of the relationship that is supposed to develop between Hundert and a female colleague-it was just not going anywhere.
What it all boils down to is the question: Do you like the Classics? If you do, then director Michael Hoffman's work is right up your alley. If you don't like the Classics, then you might not fully enjoy the film, but still, I'd recommend that you watch it. `The Emperor's Club', in my opinion is worthy of a 9 out of 10. Oh, and one more thing if I were at St. Benedict's I would be Mr. Julius Caesar.
`The Emperor's Club' starts out in medias res with our protagonist, retired classics teacher William Hundert (Kevin Kline) arriving at a posh resort. Now how could anyone not related to a Fortune 500 executive afford a stay there? The answer lies in the past-1976 to be exact-in St. Benedict's, an exclusive male-only private school with a penchant for the classics.
It is at St. Benedict's that Mr. Hundert holds sway over the Classics department as a truly outstanding teacher who manages to reach and inspire his students from the Indian workhorse, Deepak Mehta (Rishi Mehta) to a Martin Blythe (Paul Dano), a legacy student and on to the smart-but-with-a-swagger Louis Masoudi (Jessie Eisenberg). But when Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch) enters Hundert's class and subverts the students with his feckless rebel routine that brings him C's and D's when he could very well be earning top marks.
At St. Ben's, there is an annual contest between the top three students in Classics for the `Mr. Julius Caesar' title. In the true Hollywood fashion, Bell catches fire and earns his way into the contest-at the expense of Hundert's ethics, for it was Hundert who used this newfound impetus to bump the third qualifier (Blythe) in favor of the fourth place finisher (Bell). The contest goes on (no spoiler here) and then 25 years later, the grown Bell (Joel Gretsch), who really has not changed, wants a rematch, hence the entrance of Hundert at the resort and the conclusion of this summary.
I'd like to get one thing off of my chest-I would give my left hand to be able to have a Classics course (Latin is good, but not enough history) at Lourdes. The Roman Empire is one of the most fascinating things in my mind, so that stance might skew my review a bit in favor of `The Emperor's Club'.
Not that my opinion needs much skewing-while the film is not great, it is certainly very good. Kevin Kline as a teacher was an excellent casting choice-I could see parts of my teachers in him (and certainly that must have been what the film was looking for in this role) and Kline brings a sincerity to the screen that is unmistakable. Also, kudos should go out Emile Hirsch for a performance that is right-on as a trouble student. On the whole, the acting was solid if not good.
The plot, while being straightforward, is exactly what I was looking for here. Depending on one's level of cynicism, the plot either takes a couple unexpected turns or is completely predictable. Still, it is very nice to see a movie that does not feature violence, explosions, and other physical mayhem. The thing that I would tweak if I were to rewrite the script is a purging of the relationship that is supposed to develop between Hundert and a female colleague-it was just not going anywhere.
What it all boils down to is the question: Do you like the Classics? If you do, then director Michael Hoffman's work is right up your alley. If you don't like the Classics, then you might not fully enjoy the film, but still, I'd recommend that you watch it. `The Emperor's Club', in my opinion is worthy of a 9 out of 10. Oh, and one more thing if I were at St. Benedict's I would be Mr. Julius Caesar.