Davis easily ties a sick education system to a sick society. But when it comes down to it, in the end he has no clear cure for what ails us. At the very least, though, he has exposed the disease for all to see.
Waiting for "Superman"
The fate of our country won't be decided on a battlefield, it will be determined in a classroom.
2010 · 1h 51m · PG
Documentary
Directed by
Davis Guggenheim
Overview
Gripping, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful, Waiting for Superman is an impassioned indictment of the American school system from An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Your heart goes out to all these kids, but Guggenheim's take on education stacks the deck against them even further by implying that only charters offer a ray of hope. Would that it were that simple.
An admirable exercise in straight talk, especially in its tough assessment of the mediocrity-enforcing teachers' unions.
By focusing on these five kids and their hopeful families, Waiting for Superman puts a human face on a crisis worthy of a superhero.
We need another movie, one that shows us why some charter schools work and others dont.
More films
Dangerous Minds (1995)
Drama · R
Former Marine Louanne Johnson lands a gig teaching in a pilot program for bright but underachieving teens at a notorious inner-city high school. After having a terrible first day, she decides she must throw decorum to the wind. When Johnson returns to the classroom, she does so armed with a no-nonsense attitude informed by her military...
- Runtime
- 1h 39m
- Director
- John N. Smith
- Cast
- Michelle Pfeiffer, George Dzundza, Courtney B. Vance
To Sir, with Love (1967)
Drama · UNRATED
A British Guianese engineer starts a job as a high school teacher in London’s East End, where his uninterested and delinquent pupils are in desperate need of attention and care.
- Runtime
- 1h 45m
- Director
- James Clavell
- Cast
- Sidney Poitier, Lulu, Christian Roberts
Stand and Deliver (1988)
Drama · PG
Jaime Escalante is a mathematics teacher in a school in a hispanic neighbourhood. Convinced that his students have potential, he adopts unconventional teaching methods to try and turn gang members and no-hopers into some of the country's top algebra and calculus students.
- Runtime
- 1h 43m
- Director
- Ramón Menéndez
- Cast
- Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Phillips, Rosanna DeSoto
The Lottery (2010)
Documentary · Thriller · N/A
Four children enter a high-stakes lottery. If they win, they can attend one of the best schools in New York. A look at the crisis in public education, The Lottery makes the case than any child can succeed.
- Runtime
- 1h 21m
- Director
- Madeleine Sackler
- Cast
- Cory Booker, Geoffrey Canada
Serial Mom (1994)
Comedy · Crime · R
Beverly is the perfect happy homemaker, along with her doting husband and two children, but this nuclear family just might explode when her fascination with serial killers collides with her ever-so-proper code of ethics.
- Runtime
- 1h 34m
- Director
- John Waters
- Cast
- Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake
Hairspray (1988)
Comedy · Music · Romance · PG
'Pleasantly plump' teenager Tracy Turnblad achieves her dream of becoming a regular on the Corny Collins Dance Show. Now a teen hero, she starts using her fame to speak out for the causes she believes in, most of all integration. In doing so, she earns the wrath of the show's former star, Amber Von Tussle, as well as Amber's manipulati...
- Runtime
- 1h 32m
- Director
- John Waters
- Cast
- Sonny Bono, Divine, Ruth Brown
Pink Flamingos (1972)
Comedy · Crime · NC-17
Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against Connie & Raymond Marble, a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".
- Runtime
- 1h 33m
- Director
- John Waters
- Cast
- Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce
Pecker (1998)
Comedy · Drama · R
A Baltimore teenager who picks up a second-hand camera starts snapping his way to stardom, soon turning into a nationwide sensation, with a fateful choice between his life and his art.
- Runtime
- 1h 26m
- Director
- John Waters
- Cast
- Edward Furlong, Christina Ricci, Bess Armstrong
Female Trouble (1974)
Comedy · Crime · NC-17
Dawn Davenport progresses from a teenage nightmare hell-bent on getting cha-cha heels for Christmas to a fame monster whose egomaniacal impulses land her in the electric chair.
- Runtime
- 1h 38m
- Director
- John Waters
- Cast
- Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce


Comments
Talk about the film with other members