Word: sedgewick
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Yuck, preppies. Beloved William Hundert (Kevin Kline) teaches classics at snooty St. Benedict's. He gets his toga into a twist over a brat named Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch), a cheeky cheat in whom he somewhat mysteriously detects good stuff. The conventions of the genre usually dictate that the boy will ultimately reform. The considerable originality of The Emperor's Club (directed by Michael Hoffman) lies in the fact that the kid gets worse, not better, going on to sleazy dotcom millions and, of course, politics. This leaves the prissily played Hundert sadder and wiser. But it still may leave...
...Club features a well-liked teacher, in this case Mr. Hundert, with a great passion for his job who shapes and molds his students into fine young men over the many years of his career. The film focuses on Hundert’s relationship with a new transfer student, Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch) who joins the class of 1976 at St. Benedict’s and manages to test the patience of the experienced Mr. Hundert with his rebellious antics. However, in spite of Sedgewick’s pranks, contempt for authority and general raucousness, Hundert attempts to cultivate...
...academy award-winning work in the comedy A Fish Called Wanda, here portrays with equal effectiveness a strikingly different character. Indeed, as a dignified, proper, yet incredibly passionate teacher, Kline gives a performance that truly inspires. Particularly memorable is the scene when Mr. Hundert confronts a grown-up Sedgewick in a tense encounter punctuated by an unparalleled depth of emotion subtly present in Kline’s voice and manner. Indeed, this is sure to be remembered as one of his most outstanding performances...
...positive aspects of the film are not enough to compensate for the serious flaws in the script. The Emperor’s Club does little to distinguish itself from any other “great teacher” movie, largely because the story focuses excessively on the relationship between Sedgewick and Hundert without ever really probing into each of their personal lives outside of the classroom...
...example, both Mr. Hundert and Sedgewick grew up under the shadows of their fathers, but instead of exploring this diametrically opposing setup, the movie essentially ignores it. The love between Hundert and his colleague Elizabeth (Embeth Davidtz) is also completely undeveloped, leaving the audience feeling puzzled and unsatisfied as the plot progresses. Films of a similar type such as Mr. Holland’s Opus were, in contrast, successful precisely because they explored the personal trials and tribulations of their protagonists beyond the classroom...