Details

Release year: 2002

Storyline

An idealistic prep school teacher attempts to redeem an incorrigible student.

Top credits

Directors

Michael Hoffman

Writers

Cast

Kevin Kline — William Hundert
Emile Hirsch — Sedgewick Bell
Joel Gretsch — Older Sedgewick Bell
Embeth Davidtz — Elizabeth

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Did you know

• When filming the movie, the location (Emma Willard school in Troy, NY) was still operating as a girl's school. Emile Hirsch reportedly complained about the students, claiming that they were pestering him for his phone number. He also (reportedly) said some unsavory things about the school in general. When the students heard about this, they demanded an apology from Hirsch, which he delivered in front of the entire student body. At the school viewing, whenever he appeared on screen, the girls booed loudly and stories about him still circulate through the student body.

• While on location at the Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, Kevin Kline stood in as an English teacher for several classes who were studying Shakespeare at the time. Students gave him rave reviews as an instructor.

• Kevin Kline's character, William Hundert, is modeled after Robert Nowe, a classical history teacher at Town School for Boys in San Francisco, who inspired the short story on which the film is based.