Chalk

A mockumentary satirizing the high-school teaching experience that serves up poignancy with its humor, Mike Akel's shot-on-video, faux-vérité, semi-improvisational Chalk features actors in the lead roles interacting with real students and teachers at an Austin, TX high school. The main focus is on four staff members: a boisterous, sometimes boorish history instructor who thinks very highly of himself (although his command of history is dubious), a female coach who's a martinet, a former music teacher overwhelmed by her promotion to assistant principal, and—the soul of the movie—an erstwhile computer engineer named Mr. Lowrey (beautifully played by Troy Schremmer) who has taken the job of first-year history teacher. Lowrey, who is gradually transformed from a klutz incapable of managing his class into an instructor whom the students come to like, exemplifies the difficulties teachers face today, and he captures the dilemma prevalent in contemporary teaching when he admits at year's end that he may not continue in the classroom. Chalk rejects the triumphal note of most Hollywood high school stories about dedicated teachers and students who exceed their wildest expectations, instead reflecting the mediocre reality of so many public schools. It might not be the warm and fuzzy story most of us want to hear, but it's a true one, and it's told with insight, humor, and an appropriate touch of sadness. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)