The Emperor's Club - Thoughts & Reviews -

[dh1989]

http://us.ent4.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/universal_pictures/the_emperor_s_club/_group_photos/emile_hirsch3.jpg

Plot: Kevin Kline stars as William Hundert, a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch), walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to a close student-teacher relationship, but results in a life lesson for Hundert that will still haunt him a quarter of a century later.

I think this film looks wonderful. Kevin Kline is a very good actor(see: Life as a House) and the plot sounds like a classy, entertaining film. It also looks like this year's A Beautiful Mind, but with a better lead actor. The trailers look very good and I will surely check out this film and would not be suprised if it comes up in Oscar season. What do you fellow schmoes think?

[sleekproductions]

This looks awesome. Perfect Best Picture material. See you at the oscars! I Can't wait to see it on the 22nd!

[darkface]

I i'm looking forward to this one too. I love these types of movies.

[FeverDog420]

This looks like shameless Miramax Oscar bait along the lines of The Shipping News, Chocolat and The Cider House Rules. Except that this is from Universal, so I'm at a loss.

So, this is like Dead Poets Society with a sane leading actor. Hasn't the "inspirational teacher" thing been retired yet? How many times do we need to see this story?

This plot appears once every few years: Lean On Me, Stand and Deliver, Dangerous Minds, Music of the Heart, Finding Forrester. Just tweak the script enough to pretend it's "original," and the lemmings will flock.

At least that's what I think..

[idealdiscountdude]

I love manipulative tear-jerkers/dramas/inspirational flicks however although I loved the vastly underrated Life As A House, The Emperor's Club looks very bland.

The trailers do absolutely nothing for me and I must agree with FeverDog420....it looks like Dead Poets Society all over again......

I'll definetly skip this one....but I may check it out on video for the helluva it.

[dh1989]

Originally posted by FeverDog420
This looks like shameless Miramax Oscar bait along the lines of The Shipping News The Cider House Rules


I love both of those pictures. I thought they had interesting plots and great performances(I love both Tobey Maguire and Julianne Moore).

[Nate6]

The Cider House Rules (8/10) is a very underrated film. The Shipping News (5/10) is not quite so great.

But back to the subject, like FeverDog420 and Idealdiscountdude, I think the film just looks generic and bland. Nothing exciting, just a predictable inspirational teacher story with an above-average lead actor. But I'll probably see it on video anyway.

[uncle_el]

i'd have to second nate6's opinion- it looks very uninteresting... he's a teacher, he plays ball w/ the kids, he gets old at the same institutution and some kid comes back to say he made a difference... it just doesn't strike me as being worth my $7.50

[blankpage]

Well when I first saw the trailer for this film it looked awful. But after a while it grew on me. I will most likely go see this film, as it looks like pretty good. However, I don't think it is Oscar bait. But my opinion could change if I see this film.

[Mike]

I doubt we will see this movie at the Oscars because the reviews are pretty mixed. But I think it looks like an alright movie. I'm sure I'll rent it when it comes out on video. I really liked Emile Hirsch in THE DANGEROUS LIVES OF ALTAR BOYS (8/10) and I'm looking forward to seeing how he does here. It does look similar to The Dead Poets Society though but I never actually saw that movie.

[sleekproductions]

http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0283530/5559-1553.jpg


I really wasn't quite sure what to expect with this movie. The trailers made it seem as if it could go two ways... really sappy, and overdone, or excellent and meaningful. Luckily, the second option is correct.
The story told here is very simple and classic. A teacher tries to help a boy and make him a better person. We have seen it before, yes, but I feel as if this time around it takes a different route. It is really a story about values, and principles, and doing what's right and what's wrong. Its about friendship, and how far should you go for your friends. It's also about what a teacher should do for their students; how much is too much, and should you always believe in your hunches about a person. It is also about whether it is important to be rememberd for what you did and what contributions you made, or just how much you did. Yes, I know that's a lot of stuff wrapped into 2 hours of screentime, but that is what I got out of this film.

Kevin Kline is simply brilliant. He turns in a performance filled with passion and emotion, and though he isn't a huge name, he proves here that he is easily one of the best in the business. Emile Hirsch is also excellent here, in the role that I believe will make him a star. He reminds me a lot of a young Leonardo Dicaprio. The way these two actors play off each other is perfect. The teacher to student relationship has never worked better. The rest of the cast here is also very good and adds depth and color to the story.

This is easily Michael Hoffman's (director) best film. His other films were light fluff, but this is his tour de force. He directs the characters and the occurences with precision, simplicty, and style. The inner workings of the plot; the positiong of the people... it is all brilliant, and I never would have expected such great work out of this man. On the behind the scenes note, the cinematography by Lajos Koltai is also very good. The scenes are rich in color and depth, and are bright and airy. The other very good part of this film is the score by James Newton Howard, which is simply brilliant. It is fast when it has to be fast, slow when it has to be slow, and impecibly catchy. It fits the mood and the feeling of the film perfectly.

All in all, this is a truly great film. It actually talks about something good, and protrays an excellent and real message. This isn't your normal hollywood fluff. It touched me in a way not many other films have. I left the theatre feeling good, and refreshed, knowing I had just seen one of the best films of the year.

9/10

[Puck Bond]

The Emperor's Club is a wonderful film with a message about honor, dignity and honesty and features a very nice performance by Kevin Kline. Kline plays William Hundert a passionate and respected professor of the Classics, of early Western Civilization meaning the Greeks and the Romans at an East coast all boys prep school. He is a man of principle and excellence and demands respect and that same excellence from his sudents...and they give that to him until a spoiled, defiant kid of a Senator joins the class Sedgewick Bell played by Emile Hirsch. Finally Prof. Hundert is able to get through to Bell inspiring him to do well in an annual tournament called "The Julius Caesar" tournament. A year long series of quizzes about ancient Rome, where you attain points and at the end of the year the three students with the highest score take part in a final competition and the winner is crowned Mr. Julius Cesar with head wreeth and all. As I said earlier Hundert demands perfection in his classroom but his personal life is far from it with what seems to be a failed romance and a failure to further his scholastic career. But he is a man of principle and character until he bends those principles an scruples to get Sedgewick Bell into the final contest, when he didn't deserve to be there and he ultimately lets Hundert down. 25 years later Sedgewick Bell now a rich business man invites everyone back for the weekend with eating, drinking and entertainment and ultimately a rematch of the final competition of the "Julius Caesar" tournament. Bell of course is the type of person who will always get what he wants because he can afford it and get away with it. A man incapable of ever takng responsibilty for his actions. The man hasn't changed...and neither have the other students and their relationship with Hundert. They still revere and respect him and he does the same but at what cost to his own character some might say. Overall, The Emperor's Club is not just another Dead Poets Society about an inspirational and universally loved teacher but about what it means to earn respect, honor and dignity. a wonderful film with a message and a great perfomance by Kevin Kline.

[idealdiscountdude]

Bump

[ninja555]

this movie looks crazy and fun and stuff