The low-budget comedy "Chalk" provides a welcome antidote to all those inspirational, cookie-cutter crowd-pleasers like "Freedom Writers" and "Dangerous Minds" that Hollywood routinely proffers in answer to our troubled schools.Although this is a scripted, fictional film, co-writers Mike Akel (who is also the director) and Chris Mass (who also plays one of the teachers) have given "Chalk" the look and feel of a slice-of-life documentary. Director Akel has trained his cameras on a handful of young teachers and one first-year administrator as they go about the business of molding young minds at a fictional school called Harrison High (though the location remains unidentified, the movie itself was filmed in Austin, Texas). Yet, these are not your typical movie "super teachers" who, through sheer force of personality and a series of well-crafted lessons, are able to convert their initially hardened students into lifelong lovers of learning. Rather, the teachers here are well-meaning but imperfect mortals who wage a daily battle with students who won't learn, copiers that won't copy, and colleagues who often don't see eye-to-eye even on the most rudimentary aspects of teaching and learning, let alone on how best to run a school. Frankly, it's a good day for these teachers if the students aren't fighting in the lunch area, hiding the chalk as a lame practical joke, or arguing about why they aren't allowed to use a cell phone in class. And there are times in which the teachers themselves come across as more insecure, petty and immature than even their own students. Yet, there are also those special moments when the teachers and pupils manage to connect on a meaningful level - those little flashes of hope that the whole frustrating ordeal might just possibly amount to something worthy in the end.With a droll sense of humor and a flair for gentle satire, the filmmakers poke affectionate fun at the life of a teacher, while at the same time evincing a genuine respect for the characters and what it is they are trying to do. The movie acknowledges that teaching is a difficult profession, yet it doesn't insult those who dedicate their lives to it by pretending that all one need have to be successful is a magical combination of motivational speeches and good intentions.The cast members, most of whom are newcomers to the movies, never undercut the joke by winking at the camera or treating the material with anything less than total earnestness. They genuinely appear to be ad-libbing their lines, lending to the film the air of spontaneity and improvisation befitting a documentary. And the movie ends on a note of quiet poignancy that reminds us of just how powerful a tool restraint can be in making a point.By refusing to resort to either melodrama or hyperbole, "Chalk" paints about as realistic a portrait of life in the classroom as I've seen in quite some time.

Attention Bruce Burns, I am so very glad you are not a teacher because you seem far too smug and self-important with apparently no sense of humor. You would be a terrible instructor.Moving on...I am a middle school English teacher who absolutely *adored* Chalk. It nailed the nuances, struggles, and joys of teaching, and it made me even more convinced I've got one of the best jobs on earth.As someone who entered teaching as a second career after working as a reporter, I can honestly say teaching is not for everyone. But if you're bright, caring, and can think fast on your feet, you might be cut out for it. The rewards are everything you would imagine them to be, and the challenges are far bigger than you could envision. "Chalk" celebrated it all without being overly sentimental like so many of those cheesy teacher as lifesaver films that are out there.For me, the best moment of the film came at the very end when Mr. Lowery is trying to rap with his students. It was so human, and the hard-won affection from his students was so real...I could totally relate.Schools are like little small towns full of gossips, crazies, heroes, and everything in between..."Chalk" nailed that as well...complete with the Happy Hours every teacher knows and loves (and depends on!).Overall a great little film that will ring true for anyone with a sense of humor...and especially with anyone who has ever uttered the words, "All right everyone, get out a piece of paper and put your name on the corner." :-)

"I graduated college in 1994 with a bachelors degree in Government, but was unable to get into any post-graduate program that I applied for. So I have had a series of low-paying jobs that don't require more than a high school education. Ever since then, my mother has been asking me why don't I take a salaried position as a teacher like my brother. The trouble is that my brother hates teaching, and only took it up because he couldn't find anything else. And from all of my other friends who have become teachers (or who used to be teachers but burned out), I have heard that it is a high-stress job with very few rewards." So begins the review by one Bruce Burns in this section. Mr. Burns goes on to discuss the film's portrayal of teachers being social misfits with serious relationship issues as being entirely accurate by his estimation. This from a guy who graduated college in 1994 and is still being prodded by his mother in terms of his career. Who's the misfit with relationship issues here? Maybe if you'd kept one of those entry level jobs you had in the 90's you'd be on to upper management by now. That's kind of how the non-MBA career path has to develop....but that's okay, because at least you're not a social misfit teacher! This film is raw and clever. It's certainly not a polished "Christopher Guest style" production, but it doesn't appear that it was intended to be either. The pacing is quick and lively, the characters are sympathetic and quirky, and the line between absurdity and reality is carefully kept. If one were to judge teachers and the profession from this movie, it would be akin to judging detectives and their profession from the Naked Gun movies.

A most enjoyable film especially for those, like my wife, who have been in education for many years. "Many a truth is said in jest" and this movie hits the nail on the head, in that it is very funny, endearing and true all at the same time. The world of teachers is a parallel universe as far removed from the students as the students are from the teachers...but sometimes the worlds meet and in the collision a new understanding is formed...sometimes. From a more philosophical point of view that is where I think the comedy had a point of view..."teachers are human too" with foibles and triumphs. How refreshing to see something about the teachers in contrast to all the relentless trash on TV and movies which place emphasis on the failure of education. YUK if only the world new how tough teaching really is. I only wish this movie could somehow go mainstream.