Chalk

A far more realistic looking into the teaching world than is offered by most teacher dramas. Amusing, believable, and at times touching.

Meh. The structure is very poorly thought out. The fantasy sequence destroys the mockumentary conceit, and many of the segments are just needless (such as the Spelling Hornet). The editing definitely needs work. It's essentially a poorly done version of The Office, and it is insufficiently funny. On top of that, what little serious content is attempted is amazingly trite.

Has its flaws, but I thought it was an overall okay film. As a student myself, I can often not appreciate my teachers, but I think this film is still a very subtle and realistic play on their lives and careers. I enjoyed the characters and felt good about it, in the end.

It just wasn't very funny.

According to my wife, a teacher, it only slightly captures the difficulties teachers face in the classroom. As for mockumentary entertainment value it kept me busy, but I never really got into it.

Very interesting documentary, it doesn't show as much of what the teachers go through, the children are actually docile and more children-like than you'd expect, but the human stories are fascinating. and that super villain over achieving teacher is unbelievable.

After The Class, which also employs a realistic perspective and infectious earnestness, Chalk comes up short-handed. Yet, borrowing the documentary framing and the character-based humor of The Office (and its occasional forays into absurdity), it has its own modest charms and never sacrifices the integrity of its characters' portraiture for laughs. It goes wrong with heavy-handed musical cues and a fantasy sequence that sabotage its framing.