This would be OK if it wasn't so obviously written for American film festival audiences as the story of a teacher trying to inspire his pupils never gets old. "The Class" (2008) or "Monsieur Lazhar" are good examples of the genre. What is totally missing here is conflict, an effort to win the kids over, which is crucial for the relevance of films of this kind. "The Teacher's Lounge", which is nominated for best foreign film this year, is an example how badly communication between teacher and students can go wrong.
In "Radical", things just magically work themselves out, the low class children have no problem whatsoever to accept the authority of a weirdo. The two stand-outs are defined in crystal contrast, a highly intelligent girl whose father is a garbage collector and dreams of becoming an astronaut, and a pretty boy mixed up with a narco gang. Of course these two have to become involved and of course there is a very predictable tragedy.
This comes out of a country which has given us some of the most hard-hitting dramas of recent years, like "Prayers for the Stolen", "Identifying Features" or "A Cop Movie". It's OK not to constantly show gritty brutality and go for a more uplifting approach, but I fail to see a local style in this yankee pleaser, like Cuarón's in "Roma" or Iñárritu's in "Bardo" which could only be Mexican films. This is American through and through, it has no life of its own, and I find that rather insulting to the real-life people the story is based on.
In "Radical", things just magically work themselves out, the low class children have no problem whatsoever to accept the authority of a weirdo. The two stand-outs are defined in crystal contrast, a highly intelligent girl whose father is a garbage collector and dreams of becoming an astronaut, and a pretty boy mixed up with a narco gang. Of course these two have to become involved and of course there is a very predictable tragedy.
This comes out of a country which has given us some of the most hard-hitting dramas of recent years, like "Prayers for the Stolen", "Identifying Features" or "A Cop Movie". It's OK not to constantly show gritty brutality and go for a more uplifting approach, but I fail to see a local style in this yankee pleaser, like Cuarón's in "Roma" or Iñárritu's in "Bardo" which could only be Mexican films. This is American through and through, it has no life of its own, and I find that rather insulting to the real-life people the story is based on.