Pressure Cooker (2008) User Reviews

great documentary about high school students competing for scholarships to culinary college

[toddbradley · 8/10 · 22 November 2008]

My wife and I saw "Pressure Cooker" last night at the Starz Denver International Film Festival. At first, I was afraid I was going to hate it, due to the shaky camera work. But as the story unfolded, I was drawn in. And by the end of it, I was crying with the rest of the audience.

This was the director's first documentary film, and thanks to some interesting characters and excellent editing, she's put together something fantastic.

The film follows the lives of a strict but loving teacher of culinary arts in an inner city high school in Philadelphia, and a half dozen of her students. In an area where most kids don't have a lot of opportunities, these kids are learning to be professional cooks and competing for a few scholarships to big name culinary schools around the US. Their stories are all interesting and varied, and by the end you get a real sense that the students and the teacher have quite a bond. And of course you're rooting for them all to get scholarships.

The story telling is awesome, the sound was surprisingly good, and the editing was top notch. My only complaint - and the only thing keeping me from giving this a 10/10 rating - was that the filmmaker didn't bother using any steadicam. Nearly all the shots are hand held. On a TV you probably wouldn't notice, but on a big screen it's a little distracting.

Great characters with great stories are always a winning recipe

[Movie_Muse_Reviews · 8/10 · 1 March 2009]

I had the pleasure of viewing "Pressure Cooker" at the True/False Film Festival in Columbia, Mo. My first thought was that the culinary angle of the film would provide its uniqueness, or it's own flavor if you will, but cooking is merely the vehicle for a human drama about students and their passionate teacher simply trying to create an opportunistic future.

The most appealing part of the film is the unique sense of humor provided by its characters. What really makes for a great documentary is an enigmatic or totally original character(s). Creators Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker find that character in Wilma, an outspoken and emotional lady with an in-your-face attitude but a heart of gold filled with nothing but love for her students. The humor she adds is what draws you into the film, developing a first impression that you are bound to regret making one the film ends and you see her for who she truly is.

The directors also found three amazing students with compelling stories to focus on: the cheerleader who lives with her dad and is responsible for her blind sister, the football star who is the man of his household and an African immigrant who wants nothing more than to succeed on her own in a new country. At first you feel disappointed that the film is not more focused on the cooking, but as you get to know these students, who take to the camera with such ease, really opening themselves up, you become so invested in them that it's what happens to them that matters most.

This film easily could have easily been just about the competition of trying to get scholarships, relying on that suspense alone as a hinge, but the directors turn it into something much different and much more meaningful. They strive instead to show a complete picture of the lives of these students while showing how cooking fits in. The choice creates sort of a lack of clear narrative structure at the beginning, hopping from one character-revealing scene to the next, but once the scholarship competition nears, everything falls logically into place and the film delivers emotionally at the end.

"Pressure Cooker" is a really easy doc to watch, full of humor and most importantly those compelling characters with compelling stories. Grausman and Becker appear to have only needed to be there with cameras to get a great film, but to their credit, it's well-edited, picking great moments to let their story shine.

An inspirational, funny, un-sappy documentary

[runamokprods · 9/10 · 30 December 2011]

It gets a little lost and repetitive in the middle, but this uplifting documentary of inner-city kids competing for scholarships to culinary colleges packs an emotional wallop, and manages to be truly inspiring without being sappy.

It's also full of wonderful characters, starting with their teacher, a sort of drill sergeant with a heart. This is the kind of teacher every kid needs – one who isn't afraid to be tough as nails, but underneath is flowing over with love for 'her kids'. She's quirky, odd, unpredictable, and you can see that her students adore her.

The students too are a fascinating bunch, from the huge football player who really puts his all into his cooking, to the recent immigrant from a poverty stricken village in Africa who sees America as a land of opportunity in a way very few of us born here can. A lovely film with a sense of humor and a great message.

Superb Movie

[torrencemys · 10/10 · 9 August 2011]

I just loved this film! To watch them all grow together within one year and just become outstanding chefs is just a pleasant sight! I'm a culinary enthusiast and to watch Ms. Stephenson in action with those students just says that she's all about her job.

Ms. Fatoumata just made me smile the entire way through. Her passion about education and strive to continue on with her life despite her father's opinion just shows that she's a strong woman of integrity.

Ms. Erica's love for her family, more so her little sister, just puts into perspective that she will continue to fight for her beloved ones and her future.

Last, but certainly not least, Mr. Tyree. This All-Star High School football player and cheerleader has gone to great heights. For him to put forth his maximum effort into everything he has done without the fear of his peers, has touched me tremendously. Certainly not one to fool with on the field nor in the kitchen, he has marked a spot for his success.

I know Chef/Sergeant Wilma Stephenson and her crew has made this film in 2007 and its now 2011, I wonder how each of you are doing. Once again, the film was amazing. And hope to see you all back on the big screen in the upcoming years.

God Bless you all and be safe.

Heartwarming and deeply moving.

[rutietooty · 10/10 · 22 February 2011]

Pressure Cooker was charming, heartwarming, funny, sad, deeply moving and joyous.

I was clapping and crying (tears of joy)for the students and their wonderful teacher at the and of the movie. I just loved this film. I feel like these kids are in my heart now and I want all the best for them always. I would love to know what happens to the group as they head off to college and beyond.

The strength and determination of these kids was inspiring to me. The strength and determination of their teacher was just as inspiring. I would watch it again and I will definitely recommend this film. Thumbs WAY up!

Exceptional Documentary that Dispels Pernicious Stereotypes

[cydneyalexis · 10/10 · 9 January 2017]

In my field of writing studies, a concept called "sponsorship" (Brandt) is infamous. This concept speaks to the phenomenon by which structural, institutional, and often invisible forces give access to literate resources to some, while denying it to others (and the "sponsors," who are not individuals, but rather institutions, corporations, etc.) benefit from their sponsorship in some way. This film, better than any other I've ever seen, demonstrates how sponsorship works.

CCAP, a culinary organization of sorts, awards college scholarships to inner-city high-schoolers who exhibit culinary skill by winning in local cooking competitions. This film traces one set of resource-poor inner city youth who, over the course of their high school careers, take a culinary course with a demanding, over-bearing teacher who trains them for this competition (typically with much success, and in the film, you find out exactly how much money this program earns for the kids). CCAP provides the means by which kids can escape their situations, and in the process, earns it own monetary, tax, and charitable rewards.

The film itself does not discuss sponsorship. However, it shatters myths about inner-city youth being too lazy, uneducated, or dumb to succeed in life, and instead shows just how much resource-poor kids have to do to reap the same rewards as those who are resource-rich. These kids get up at 5 a.m. to work in the school's kitchen, are asked to train in the kitchen from 5 a.m.-til the end of the day during their Spring Breaks, work on the weekends and after school, play on sports teams, and still have to earn high enough grades to stay in the culinary arts course, which is only offered to the top students in the school in which the course is offered.

I don't agree with the previous viewer that this film lags in the middle. It is a tense, moving, compelling, and often tear-jerking film that will grip you and teach you a lot about the world we live in.

I highly recommend that any teacher who reads this review runs out and purchases the film immediately. I use it in most of the courses I teach, especially when I want to get at issues of racism and privilege.

Frankford High in Philadelphia, students on culinary school track.

[TxMike · 28 May 2012]

I love this film. Probably because I too love to cook and have been doing so since I was a kid, and also because I love good stories about kids working hard to find a better place in life, to achieve beyond the situation they find themselves in.

Annually is a competition among students, they compete as budding chefs and scholarships are at stake. From $1,000 or $2,000 to help with tuition, all the way to $80,000 for a full four-year ride at a culinary institute. And many in between those extremes.

Mrs Stephenson is the culinary arts teacher at Frankford. We see her from the beginning, she is loud with zero tolerance for students who are slackers or who don't show proper respect. She says all the other teachers in Philadelphia hate her. But her students love her, with her no-nonsense approach turns out, year after year, some of the top candidates for the scholarships. She loves each one as if he or she were her own son or daughter, and says a prayer with them right before the competitions.

The film shows the impact strong individual teachers can make on at-risk students and inspire them to achieve more than most around them believe they can. In may ways she reminded me of Roberta Guaspari who established the violin program in New York inner city schools, and featured in the movie "Music of the Heart."

It equally shows that when you filter out those few students who actually want to learn and achieve, then devote extra attention to them, how much they accomplish is virtually unlimited. One of the student featured had emigrated to the USA from a small Western Africa country only four years earlier. Not only did she learn English and achieve straight A grades, she also won a full scholarship to a top culinary school. One judge said he had never seen vegetables chopped so precisely, as an example of her skill. In her brief interview shown in this film, she saw how much opportunity she had here and took full advantage of it.

Wonderful documentary film, it not only shows all the culinary education at school and the competitions, it also shows many of the students in their family situations. When the film is winding down and the awards are being presented, it is almost as if you know them as friends or family members, not just kids from Philadelphia.

Saw it on Netflix streaming movies.

What a find!

[fdoamerica · 10/10 · 24 May 2022]

Brilliant, Inspiring, Engaging, and at the end, emotional. Reminds me of great movies like Stand and Deliver (1988) or To Sir, With Love (1967) yet this is a documentary about a ghetto High School in Philadelphia that has a brilliant/drill Sargent culinary arts teacher Wilma Stephenson.

Positivity overload

[labng · 8/10 · 8 December 2018]

I originally decided to watch this because I love everything culinary. That plays its part here, but not as the lead. The stars are the determined students and their teacher who is equally determined and perfectly suited to their environment and its challenges. Teachers are magic. This will definitely make you smile and maybe tear up a bit. I know I did.