I have very mixed feelings about this film.
As a retired teacher and school administrator, I'm appalled at the scatter-shot "curriculum" that "Conrack" is teaching the children in the film. He seems like a very appealing teaching, and yet it's been my experience that some of the most appealing teachers actually teach the least to their students. I kept thinking ahead 5, 10, 20 years. How would his "curriculum" help those children? We'll never know. How nice it would be to somehow be able to follow some them into adulthood.
On the other hand, there are performances here that are almost stunning, starting with Jon Voight. I first saw Voight in "Midnight Cowboy", a film I hated (although I can admire his performance). Then in "Deliverance", I film I rather enjoyed (and recently re-watched), and I thought his performance was quite good. I enjoyed him very much in "The Odessa File", "Coming Home", "The Champ", and "Table For Five". And then, for me, he sort of fell off my radar. But it was actually this film I most enjoyed for his performance. It just felt free and easy and, thinking back to my younger years as a teacher, I could identify with him as the character (if not his methods, which seemed to be well meaning). And, appropriately for the film, he had to be about the whitest-skinned actor in Hollywood; get some tan man! This was the first film in which I saw Madge Sinclair, here as the principal. Excellent performance.
But most of all I remember the performance of Hume Cronyn as the school superintendent. With such a long and distinguished career, I know I must have seen Cronyn previously, but it was this film where I really noticed him. He was a favorite character actor of mine ever after. Here, though his character is unlikable, his performance shines.
So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not impressed how the film portrays teaching, but I'm impressed with the film as a story.
As a retired teacher and school administrator, I'm appalled at the scatter-shot "curriculum" that "Conrack" is teaching the children in the film. He seems like a very appealing teaching, and yet it's been my experience that some of the most appealing teachers actually teach the least to their students. I kept thinking ahead 5, 10, 20 years. How would his "curriculum" help those children? We'll never know. How nice it would be to somehow be able to follow some them into adulthood.
On the other hand, there are performances here that are almost stunning, starting with Jon Voight. I first saw Voight in "Midnight Cowboy", a film I hated (although I can admire his performance). Then in "Deliverance", I film I rather enjoyed (and recently re-watched), and I thought his performance was quite good. I enjoyed him very much in "The Odessa File", "Coming Home", "The Champ", and "Table For Five". And then, for me, he sort of fell off my radar. But it was actually this film I most enjoyed for his performance. It just felt free and easy and, thinking back to my younger years as a teacher, I could identify with him as the character (if not his methods, which seemed to be well meaning). And, appropriately for the film, he had to be about the whitest-skinned actor in Hollywood; get some tan man! This was the first film in which I saw Madge Sinclair, here as the principal. Excellent performance.
But most of all I remember the performance of Hume Cronyn as the school superintendent. With such a long and distinguished career, I know I must have seen Cronyn previously, but it was this film where I really noticed him. He was a favorite character actor of mine ever after. Here, though his character is unlikable, his performance shines.
So I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not impressed how the film portrays teaching, but I'm impressed with the film as a story.