The first half is very cliché and predictable and often so very trite, but the second half becomes much more enjoyable and rich presenting an in-depth analyses into the characters of Bell and Hundert. I really like the last half as Kline (A Fish called Wanda, In and Out) realizes his attempts on Bell were in vain, when really while attempting to affect one student realizes he's affected many other students who haven't forgotten him who often pay dedication to him and throw him a party, he realizes that while attempting to reach one, he's never known that he affected so many others who were never his favorites. Plus, there's even a heartwarming ending with Steven Culp who plays Martin Blythe. What's a great improvement upon the film that manages to almost save it is Emile Hirsch (The Secret Lives of Altar Boys), a very underrated young actor who manages to portray the character Sedgewick Bell with much skill and apathy, also the addition of actor Joel Gretsch (Taken, Minority Report) who plays the adult Sedgewick Bell is also a great needed improvement. He was an excellent villain in the min-series "Taken" and manages to portray Bell's cynical and weasly attitude.
        He becomes very believable as an adult Bell who by that future time would be mean, cynical, and malicious. Kline, who is often excellent in everything he's in, (and managed to save "Life as a House"), does the best he can with the material given to his character in this film; his deliveries with his lines are very good and powerful. The two characters in the film Hundert and Bell are paradoxes within the symbolic message of the film. Hundert is the idealistic ethical teacher who believes in the power of education and its effect on kids, while Bell is the cynical realist who believes at the beginning that education means nothing, and the adult Bell is the product of that negative thinking. He didn't get what he wants with an education, and uses educational devices to further his career. It becomes clear of that point when Bell composes the entire reunion then Hundert (and the viewing audience, even me) realizes it was all just a big disingenuous campaign stunt for his bout in the senate. That's probably the best and possibly most daunting part of the film as we get to see Hundert come to realize what we, the audience has known since the beginning.

I came to a conclusion when I finished watching this film, I realized: I've seen this movie before. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I've seen this film before, the only difference with the other films and this one, is that this is a half-hearted carbon copy of the previous films. What comes off right off the beginner of the film, is that writer Neil Tolkin and director Hoffman (whose previous films include One Fine Day, Soapdish) try with great desperation to achieve the same dramatic effect and epic emotions as many of the previous films had achieved, yet in many ways, it doesn't pull through with any of the potential it bears. It's evident that they're trying by casting such a talented and multi-faceted actor as Kline for the lead, but it's such a poor use for him in the story that I was never able to become adjusted. First off what ruins the film is that the character Hundert is such an unlikable character from the get-go that even Kline can't save him.
        Often times he's preachy, stiff, and very much a wind bag; even in the opener he lectures a student for walking off path on the school grounds. What the writers hope to pull off as inspirational does nothing but draw a large yawn. Hundert's intentions for his students are also never truly clarified to the point where we'll sympathize or understand, yet he just remains a mystery until the very end. Hundert instantly is drawn to Emile Hirsch's character Sedgewick Bell, but we never know why. Hirsch's character is such a weasly annoying and mean character that even the audience sees no reason to approach him. Hundert then proceeds to focus on him, hoping to gain some sort of inspiration of achievement from his sheer smug attitude, but we're never involved in their relationship, as a matter of fact their relationship is so one-dimensional it's never believable.
        It never becomes clear why Hundert favors Bell in the first place, nor is it examined or explained. It's safe to assume he saw something in Bell, but the audience is never given a chance to experience it and we begin to wonder why a man who lectures so heavily on ethics would and morals during the film defy his own just to favor a single boy. It seems so contradictory. The script is also so preachy and trite that it seems like the writers are forcing the dialogue down the audience’s throats. Kline is given such long and melodramatic dialogue that it becomes hard to swallow. Kline's monologues are hardly ever dramatic but very much long-winded, cheesy, and often cliché. Even the plot device with the plaque on the door which is read by the new students to instill inspiration is a horrible device and is very banal.

I'm sure the original short story is better as is often the case, but this is a very flawed, trite, cliché, and often long-winded drama which fails in almost every aspect except the last half of the film which almost manages to save every flaw given from the beginning.