Front Of Class Movie Review…
I liked the movie Front of the Class. It starred James Wolk as Brad Cohen who had Tourettes syndrome, but did not let him down in becoming a teacher. I thought he did a fantastic performance in the role and could get some award nominations for this.
I thought all of the performances in the movie were solid including the role of Ellen played by Patricia Heaton.
All of the flashbacks to his childhood were nicely done and certainly showcased the troubles that he had while learning in school. One of the best scenes was the middle school music recital scene where the principal made him go up to the front of all the people there to talk about his medical condition.
One of the big pieces of the movie was Brad vrs his father. Brad tried to get his father to admit his syndrome was a problem for him and finally did. Another piece of the film was on his love life and the girl he met who also liked Milli Vanilli.
The interview scenes with Brad were great. He never did get hopes down about finding a job as a teacher. It took him over 20 interviews before landing his firs job though.
The one thing I would have liked to have seen more of and could have added to a longer film is more time of him in the classroom showing why he is a great teacher. In one of the few scenes in the classroom where he was teaching his students he used a truck driver he met earlier in the movie in order to help his students learn state capitals.
In his first year he had to deal with a student with ADD, one student pulled out his class because of his syndrome, and another student that died during the school year. At the end of the school year he won a Sallie Mae Teacher Of The Year Award for first year teachers.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
