Sundance 2010: Davis Guggenheim's WAITING FOR SUPERMAN

Davis Guggenheim's latest documentary, the competition title WAITING FOR SUPERMAN, was the first major pick-up of this year's Sundance Film Festival (acquired even before it screened by Paramount).  And as the public was getting its first look at the film on Friday, it also became clear that Mr. Microsoft, Bill Gates, was taking a more than active interest in the film - his Education Foundation is believed to have been a factor in the sale to Paramount - when he showed up for the screening (his first trip to Sundance, he tweeted).

Sean Means reviewed the film for the SLC Tribune and gives it four stars:

"It's not that Davis Guggenheim is telling us anything we don't know: America's education system is in trouble, and kids in low-income areas have it the worst. What Guggenheim (AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH) adds to the argument are well-marshalled facts and tender vignettes with real students caught in a system that isn't working for them."

Variety's John Anderson (hidden behind a pay wall) also is lauding the film:

"Exhilarating, heartbreaking and righteous, WAITING FOR SUPERMAN is also a kind of high-minded thriller: Can the American education system be cured? Can it be made globally competitive? Can it, at least, be made educational? A bucket of ice water in the face of politically motivated complacency, Davis Guggenheim's epic assessment of the rise and fall of the U.S. school has been bought by Paramount and will bear the Vantage imprint. While this bodes well for theatrical nonfiction overall, it also means that those who prefer can do their crying in the dark."

The Hollywood Reporter's Matt Belloni argues that Guggenheim's latest is potentially a conservative salvo against teachers unions:

"In fact, for all its focus on underprivileged, inner-city kids, sections of SUPERMAN feel like they could have been cut together by Bill O’Reilly. Slo-mo footage of union leader speeches opposing reform that could help problem schools. Hidden-cam video of a teacher reading a newspaper and checking his watch as his class goofs around. New York educators being paid millions to not teach. A major subject of the film, reform-minded DC schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, runs into a crippling teachers-union road block in her effort to shift pay structures to reward good teachers."

David Lewis was at the world premiere and posts on Anne Thompson's blog:

"The film’s hard-nosed look at the United States’ failing public school system—and ways to go about fixing it—carried over into the Q&A.

Guggenheim was happy to defer questions to Gates, even admitting “I’m so glad Bill is here!” Education reform seems to be a subject close to Gates’ heart, and he spoke knowledgeably and eloquently on the subject, covering charter schools, teachers’ unions and experimental alternatives to traditional public schooling.

But the session’s real star was educator Geoffrey Canada (a major figure in the film), who intelligently and passionately discussed his role in the film and education reform in general. Canada, a longtime social activist, is the CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone)."

Comments

[Jason @ Filmmaking Stuff]

I think this is a great review. Thank you for sharing. (Great website BTW)

[Jen Bolger]

would love to promote this film on MomsLikeMe.com