High School Boot Camp

Veteran television director (St. Elsewhere) and documentary filmmaker Chuck Braverman won a Directors Guild of America award for this sometimes hard-to-take feature-length profile of a military-style boot camp for troubled boys. The kids--young offenders with no actual criminal record, but histories of drug use, theft, truancy, etc.--are sent to a six-month program at Belle Glade, FL, where they are stripped of trappings from their home life, routinely shouted at by drill instructors, and generally demeaned and belittled in an effort to make them better people. Whatever one thinks about the process--and it is hard not to see many of the camp's techniques as little more than sanctioned abuse--the film remains a compelling one, largely due to the blunt honesty of the boys who endure so much misery. DVD extras include filmmaker commentary, additional scenes, and a “where are they now?” update. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)