The Emperor's Club
I picked this one because I'm a big fan of Kevin Kline and Rob Morrow. Unfortunately, this is yet another in the long line of insipid boarding school movies that Hollywood churns out regularly. Sure, there's the occasionally amazing one, but most of these tend to follow the same pattern. The teacher is spectacular, and speaks the way no one speaks in real life. He's passionate, and the kids love him. Enter the bad/seemingly dumb/poor kid (this one is not poor, but fits the other two well), and the teacher feels compelled to change him. Rough moments, montage, kid all better. Of course, you've got to throw in the kid's uncaring father, too. The boarding school scenes make up about 3/4 of the movie, set in the 70s. The rest takes place in the present, where the "bad" kid tries to redeem his bad actions as a student.
Is there anything redeeming? Actually, yes. This movie is more realistic than the others of its breed. [spoiler:1mr9jcb1]The bad kid seems genuinely redeemed (and is clearly intelligent) but cheats at a popular quiz contest, and ultimately slips back into his old ways. Kline's morals are tested when his headmaster tells him to let it go to save sponsorship. In the present, he seems again to have redeemed himself. He is rich and successful. But when he invites the original participants to a rematch of the quiz show, he is caught cheating again by Kline (who still doesn't reveal it). On top of all that, Kline is racked with guilt, because he intentionally held back an intelligent student to get the bad kid into the contest in the first place. Finally, to cap everything off, Klines ambitions to become headmaster are spoiled because he has no fundraising experience.[/spoiler:1mr9jcb1] So, all in all, more realistic, with less of the "super-teacher" saves all attitude. Also, as with many movies of its kind, it is filled with beautiful scenery, which makes the watching pleasurable at least. Also, Kevin Kline is brilliant as usual. I still can't figure out how a man with such a flat affect manages to get across so much emotion.
tl;dr: Yet another boarding-school super-teacher film, but with a realistic twist.