In a Class of His Own

Amazon.com

A janitor will lose his job because he never graduated, but his learning disabilities make passing the equivalency exam almost impossible. Surprisingly, this slight premise arouses a powerful emotional reaction in this heartfelt film. The true story of Rich Donato stars Lou Diamond Phillips, generally an action star, who delivers on the promise he showed as Ritchie Valens in La Bamba for playing passionate, real-life characters. Donato enjoyed being a high school custodian because it gave him the opportunity to be a trusted mentor to the students when life got too hard for them. What Rich gave all those kids comes back to him in spades when they rally to protect his job. Except for Joan Chen and hot newcomer A.J. Buckley (The In Crowd), the cast is made up mostly of teen unknowns, but Marisa Rudiak, Candice McClure, and especially Tyler Labine give rounded performances communicating the pain and shame of confronting scholastic failure. The scenes with Cara Buono as Rich's wife show the best aspect of the movie in its ability to win our hearts by simply showing how the characters interact. Unfortunately the Showtime film sometimes goes overboard, showing Rich break dancing or playing basketball to make him appear "cool," or worse yet making speeches and "philosophizing." Significantly, writer-director Robert Munic understands the traumas of youth and the heroism of everyone in the education field who nurture the most precious natural resource, its children. --Lloyd Chesley

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