Human Dignity + Compassion = PEACE. That's Mr. Simon's (Ed Harris) award-winning four-word solution to world peace. Unfortunately, children are cruel, and there isn't even peace in his 1965 junior high classroom. "That's What I Am" is narrated by an adult Andy Nichol, who, as an awkward 13 year-old is popular enough that he gets bypassed by the bullies but he wouldn't want to jeopardize that by socializing with the outcasts. This is just a coming-of-age story, but it's personal, based on a true story, and completely realistic that the lessons are meaningful, not corny. This isn't just about teenagers struggling with the awkward phases of life, or about playing up bullying for laughs, there are serious undertones to the maliciousness of kids. And it's all too real. Mr. Simon is the best teacher in the state of California (and there are awards to prove it). He does what he can to bring peace to the world. He pairs up Andy with Big G, the tall, skinny red-head who gets tormented each day. Big G, however, doesn't let that get to him. That doesn't deter the bullies, but Big G has an inner strength that allows him to stay true to himself. Andy is inspired by that. And so am I. It tries to teach tolerance and being true to one's self, but does so through a beautifully-told, coming-of-age story that is more adult in nature than juvenile. The events that occurred were real, and had serious implications to the well-being of society. It has taken society a lot longer to be tolerant than we would like; "That's What I Am" doesn't trivialize it but focuses on the personal, positive resolutions that the good characters come to. It's real, but we also get to see the Andys of the world get the girl. I like that kind of world.
Add a Review
-
Great performances by Ed Harris and entire cast that she'd light on bullying and growing up as a kid..Molly Parker really stole our hearts throughout the engaging and warm movie. And McG with his akwardness and charismatic ways had us on his side the entire film. Truly a well made film by WWE and they should make more films like this as opposed to their lesser Genre's. Remarkably made and great ending .Overall this motion picture had a very thought provoking message. I especially like the ending credits of where they are all now and by the way the Swedish Supermodel Yvette is the Famous model Yvette Rachelle. I highly recommend this movie for all ages as it has a great lesson to be learned by folks of all ages.
-
kwatinetz2 May 2011what a refreshing film! though of course somewhat derivative (what schoolteacher drama is not these days!?) That's What I Am still manages to surprise and even delight in moments. I wandered into the Quad cinema looking for whatever was playing on a Sun afternoon, so expectations were very low, and I had not heard of this film--upon seeing the poster almost decided to read a book instead. but I went in, and very glad that I did. Ed harris is fantastic as the teacher we all wished we had. But the conflict of the story does not end in some far fetched deus ex machina, and yet...it paints a redeeming picture of humanity despite an equally visible and counter-vailing reality of distrust and salem witch hunting. I would recommend this for all ages (middle school and up) and think you will find it to be a very rewarding way to spend a couple of hours. I hope this film goes forward so more can see it.
-
Well i guess if you continue doing something eventually you will get better at it. Now i don't know if its either the cast hired on here or the WWE writers like i said are just getting better at it? Needless to say it was the best movie i have seen by the WWE as of yet. Actually it should be one i would suggest school's to acquire a copy of to show to their different class full of children as its portrays a great message on how to handle certain topics that unfortunately rear their ugly heads from time and time again. Homosexuality, bully ism and all prejudice against them. Now myself being a huge fan of the WWE's wrestling end of things i was brilliantly surprised by Randy Orton's role in this (even though if it is 5-10mins in total) film. I have seen Dwayne Johnson in the WWE's first feature Walking Tall, I even gave Cena a bit of credit for last year's Legendary but just watching Orton on screen and he just looked so natural doing it. I know there is a certain amount of acting in wrestling however they are not the best of actors however Randy seems like if he wanted to seriously think of another career if he ever got seriously injured he could quite definitely rely on acting to foot the bills. After some school bullies cannot get to their intended targets in school they take it upon themselves and make a compliant to their parents about the sexuality of their teacher Mr. Simon (Ed Harris) this causes a a parent in general who is much like his son to complain to the principal. So as you see the storyline just doesn't sit with the kids as the adults get a learning lesson throughout as well. Good family sit down movie!
-
SnoopyStyle8 September 2013What the heck just happened? The WWE logo comes on, and a serious drama comes on. Is this a new effort to broaden out the WWE brand? This is a coming-of-age story of 12 year old Andy Nichol (Chase Ellison) in 1965. He's a normal kid who's trying to survive school when Mr. Simon (Ed Harris) forces Andy with the school's biggest outcast the quiet giant red head Stanley (Alexander Walters).
Writer/Director Michael Pavone must have binge watched "The Wonder Years". This was filled with all the clichés, all the bully, all the first love drama, and even has the iconic older-self narration. Everything is jammed in there that it felt much more derivative than it needed to be. However to say something is derived from an icon like "The Wonder Years" isn't necessarily a bad thing. -
This film received a very positive review in the LA times so I rented it on Netflix where it can be seen well before it is released for sale. I have worked in education for over 40 years, so I particularly watch for films about school and teaching. I found this film to be more like an after-school special at first, with shades of Wonder Years, and was finding it too childish, as no middle schoolers used terms like "cooties" in the 60's. (More like 2nd graders maybe). But then the film turned more serious, and dealt with bullying and rumors of the teacher possibly being homosexual because he has been single for a long time, a notion fed by one of the bullies parents. One reviewer at this site decried that Ed Harris as the teacher should have resigned more in protest rather than quietly leave to visit his sister. But in the 60's, the society wasn't as tolerant of gays as today, and it would have seemed more wishful thinking than reality. The final 45 minutes were far better than the first scenes, and left me feeling I had seen a pretty good movie, albeit overly nostalgic and more like a TV movie. Still, I give it a 7, and think it is a worthwhile family film, especially for upper elementary and early secondary kids to watch with or without their parents. Ed Harris is very believable in his role, as is Chase Ellison and some of the other kids, who, unlike in most films about kids, actually looked about the age they were playing, instead of 3 or 4 years older.
-
bergenlive4 September 2012This is a type of a movie where you don't realize how great it is until the ending scene. No matter how movies like this one ends you'll end up crying(or not) because you feel as if you actually were with them trough all that happened. It doesn't matter if the movie has a happy or sad ending, you'll just be touched with the ending anyway!
It shows a classic example of American schools in the 1950s. We follow the story of the school boy Andy who's assigned to write a report with the biggest victim of bullying in school. Believing that he'll just have to finish the report and then be done with even talking to the loser, he ends up learning a lesson of a lifetime.
The movie is about finding out who you are and accepting who others are. It's about school, friendship and falling in love at a young age. -
lor_7 February 2011Heavily cloaked in the nostalgia of the mid-1960s, THAT'S WHAT I AM is an unsuccessful throwback to the inspirational dramas that once constituted family entertainment in Hollywood, resembling a theatrical version of the quality "Insight" TV series of yore.
Set in 1965 but not very convincing in establishing that milieu at a California middle school (shot in New Orleans instead), film feels more like 1958. Back in 1965 I saw many a gritty, hard-hitting movie that I still remember vividly today, like THE PAWNBROKER, REPULSION and THE BEDFORD INCIDENT, but writer-director Michael Pavone's style is better suited to drive-in escapism of the '50s than a drama or what used to be termed a "problem picture".
Ed Harris gives a sterling performance as the inspirational teacher, who's occasional homilies give rise to the film's title. Kids cast at the school, okay if somewhat older looking to be playing 13-year-olds in the 9th grade, do pretty well, though a central character, the much-maligned Big G (so named for his too-tall size and ginger red hair) is given a very flat reading by newcomer Alexander Walters. It kept me from building the requisite sympathy for his character.
Far better is Chase Ellison in the central role of Andy (with older voice providing nostalgic narration for the character). He delivers his performance with panache and a convincing depiction of the awkwardness of a young kid trying to do what's right and coping with his first kiss (with precocious Mia Rose Frampton, a real beauty).
SPOILERS AHEAD:
Bullying is a timely theme here, though I was unmoved by the somewhat timid display of what happens to the various nerds & outcasts who inhabit "geeks' corner" at the school, beyond a punch in the stomach or petty extortion. Most vivid scene is when a tiny bully beats a poor girl with his belt, afraid to touch her with his hand for fear of getting "cooties" -this level of dramatic impact should have been developed in other key scenes.
Theme of positive thinking (in actor's terms, visualization) has Ed and later his charges asserting: I'm a writer or a teacher, therefore I am. It's hammered home but unconvincing. I know positive thinking is better than negative/depressive thoughts (obviously), but am convinced its emphasis nowadays is largely snake oil sold by motivational speakers and the self-help authors/gurus. Unemployment wouldn't be stuck at 9% plus if that's all it took!
Filmmaker Pavone takes the "I'm a writer, that's what I am" notion too much to heart and in fact overwrites some of his important scenes. A notable example is when Big G whips out a dictionary to demonstrate the categorical difference between "prejudice" and "tolerance" in developing the theme for a term paper he's writing with Andy. I felt like someone had called time in the middle of the film screening and I had to sit through an impromptu lecture before the movie could continue.
By film's end one becomes aware that Pavone cannot accurately assert "I'm a film director, that's what I am", because there is no sense of composition or even rudimentary cinematic technique applied to this project. The flatly-lit movie looks and plays like an old-fashioned TV show.
Part of the problem here is a generally overlooked subset of the independent film movement of recent decades: the billionaire as producer/financial backer. Just as Melvin Simon produced several 20th Century Fox hits independently in the '80s (see ZORRO, THE GAY BLADE, LOVE AT FIRST BITE or PORKY'S for examples), Mark Cuban produces progressive/left-of-center movies when not running the Dallas Mavericks and Vince & Linda McMahon make movies usually spotlighting their stable of wrestlers when not busy running for governor or staging WWE bouts.
The WWE influence here is a definite right-of-center stance to Pavone's script. Instead of someone taking a stand and opposing the community prejudice that causes Harris's teacher to resign when rumors of homosexuality float, the storyline has him merely walking away, to go to Florida to live with his sister. Typical of an up-with-people/America-the-Beautiful right-wing attitude, we don't need any social movement (Civil Rights or Gay Activism) here, just a cornball lesson in tolerance. The status quo lives on, thank you, now freed of the progressive influence of the nonconformist teacher. His prime accuser is well played by Randy Orton playing a bully's dad; he's a top WWE wrestler who is cast usually as a "heel" in the ring, and therefore perfect as a heavy on-screen.
Similarly rightist is the sugar-coating of race relations: the black kids at the school are not the subject of bullying or the overt prejudice meted out against Big G or the nerds he hangs with. Unstated subtext is that everything's hunky-dory for them, no big deal, an illusion promulgated at the time by the likes of Strom Thurmond and still part of the right's "post-racial society" distortion of what Rev. King was talking about in the mid-'60s, especially whenever the topic of Affirmative Action comes up.
Besides Ellison and Harris, there's a solid performance by Ed's wife Amy Madigan cast as the middle school principal, who ultimately is more worried about her career & family than doing what's right. Character actor Daniel Roebuck as Andy's by-the-book/authoritarian dad is quite convincing: heinous yet human. -
theinaniloquent9 October 2011A coming-of-age story that follows 12-year-old Andy Nichol (Chase Ellison), a bright student who, like most kids his age, will do anything to avoid conflict for fear of suffering overwhelming ridicule and punishment from his junior high school peers.
That's what I am is a WWE film, which caught my attention because the film was actually amazing! The film, acting, and everything is all very real and captures middle school just as it is. I was very surprised by this and wish the average was a little higher than a 7. Parents to kids: The film touches very deep and suggestive materials that some might find no suitable. Not a problem for me, but as seeing how people can get a little strict about that stuff, just calling it out there. The acting is very good and very real and they took as I can see a long time trying to capture the emotions. Not really that great as I put it, but they did a very well job. And even to add on to that, this is a WWE film which is a big step up for them and if they could continue making movies like this, that'd be great. So. I highly recommend this to anyone who well has good taste in movies and can learn to surpass the WWE sign popping up before the movie. 7/10. -
ShadyBarsoum12 April 2012Brilliant way to identify humanity, this movie will surely touch your heart and storm your mind, what is wrong with big G , is he bad only because he has big body features ?? Does it worth to have a smooth touch for someone who really need it ?? Do we have to be so rude to be special or simply search for the meaning of humanity and become a real human ?? Ed Harris was not just acting as a teacher he was really teaching all of us that human dignity means peace and humanity. Looking for real friends is not so difficult, friendship is not a word but an act and this vision is translated into a superb acting between Norman and Big G. I was really touched deeply by this movie and I recommend it for everyone.
-
caiged18 March 2012There are so many "coming of age" stories out there now so do we really need another one? Yes, if it's done well and That's What I Am gets my vote for another addition to the genre.
Right of the bat the opening narration and the time setting reminded me of The Wonder Years, an excellent coming of age series set in the 60s. I felt I was in familiar territory and wondered if this would follow the episodes of TWY, where an older Kevin would narrate a particular episode in his young life which ended with a valuable lesson being learned. I wasn't to be disappointed as there are quite a few lessons this movie teaches: prejudice, courage, dignity, friendship, honour and tolerance.
The story's about a young "cool" kid being paired off with a social outcast, something which he's not very happy about. It might not sound like the most interesting premise and one would think that the movie would focus on their blossoming friendship but that's far from the truth. Instead, the story uses that point to focus on other issues in the 60s, issues that are mainstream and accepted today as norms but back then were new, and something to fear. There are several light moments, some dark ones, and some tear inducing moments that come at the right time and are just enough to make you smile and be glad that you watched the movie.
The acting is very good all round. Ed Harris, the most known name in the movie, is excellent in his somewhat supporting role. And that's the way it should be because the movie's about the kids in the school and not him, just in the way the movie's not all about Andy and Big G. One thing seems to remain the same...the social classes in schools back then were no different to those today. Sure, there were no EMO kids, no Goths, or preppy kids but there were still distinctions that are not so different from what we see in modern set teen high school movies.
All in all, this is definitely one to watch. If you liked The Wonder Years then you should definitely watch this movie as you'll feel right at home. This is one coming of age movie that will make you smile, and cry, and smile some more. -
I know this movie from WWE studio I jus got skeptical from very beginning. I thought that this movie will tell a story about a wrestler or something but surprisingly it was tell about Preteens story with all stuff like bullying, monkey love, etc. Complete with lovable teacher who will left at the end of the movie. I don't know is it true that the story is based on the true event, and I don't care either. I like it. Not bizzare but I got the message, I got the point. I smile, laugh, pitty, and angry when the movie want me to. That's mean it so entertaining. Even maybe this movie like they don't know who's the audience. It too annoying and cheese for adults but also it was too explicit for childrens...
-
JonathanWalford5 June 2011It's hard to not be struck by the obvious similarities between this movie and the television show The Wonder Years. The vintage setting, the baritone voice-over, the main character who survives middle school by avoiding bullies and geeks as much as possible, lusts for an 'out-of-his-league' girlfriend, and goes home to an un-user-friendly father and patient, loving mother.
This week's episode is about a red-haired geek who looks like one of the Walton children. He is paired up with the main character for a project by a wise teacher. Things go wrong, rumours fly, and accusations are made that the teacher is a 'homo'. I don't know what is more difficult to believe, that 13 year olds didn't know what a 'homo' was in 1965, or that bullies would cower in fear from a tall, skinny geek.
The movie isn't bad, it's probably even 'sweet' for those who didn't grow up on the Waltons and/or The Wonder Years and can't compare the productions. But it is undeniably maudlin and should be approached with caution. I know some will think I shouldn't have seen the film if I don't like these types of movies. That isn't the point. There are good and bad versions of this type of coming of age film and this is a middle-of-the-road version which is why I gave it 5 out of 10. -
johnnymax414 October 2013i really cannot keep myself away from writing review here. this is one of a very few films that i would like to save it in my treasure box. every single character portrayed in this film are well played and lived up to their role. i really liked all the characters of this movie. i never liked almost all the characters in any movie before. my favorite character in this movie is obviously 'Mr.Simon'. there are many reasons why i like his character. the main reason is, i had an English teacher, who was very brilliant and every single student liked her. when 'Mr.Simon' said "i guess i just don't know how my private life has any bearing on my ability as a teacher" i couldn't help relating it to the situation my teacher had to face.. and other characters like 'Andy' 'Big G' 'Norman' every single character are very real.. which explains that it is a true story. The father son relationship between Andy and his dad was really good, which almost happens in every family. and the love story which runs in the movie between Andy and Mary is really lovable. the relationship between a teacher and a student is what attracted me the most. they say a teacher knows about a child better then its parents. it is very true. i witnessed it in this movie.. i really really liked this movie.
i believe every student, teacher and parents should watch this movie. it is a family movie with a story (a real story of course).!
a very beautiful movie with a wonderful cast and their amazing performance. i really couldn't find out any flaw in this movie.
so, "it is an AWESOME movie, and that's what it is.!" -
mickeypowell31 May 2011When I saw this I didn't read anything about it. All I knew was that it was made by WWE and Randy Orton was in it. Obviously I jumped to conclusions and thought this movie was about fighting/wrestling. Another pointless movie. I was so surprised just watching the first 15 minutes. This movie is an eye opener. So much heart is in this movie. I fell in love with every one in it. Stanley "Big G" The big ginger smart guy that takes crap from everyone but doesn't let it get him down. Andy the kinda popular kid that has ended up befriending Stanley. The homosexual teacher who everyone loves. How the children don't judge him even though they are new to the whole sexuality. Mr Simon is the main homosexual teacher who is someone that would make the perfect teacher. Every school should have a teacher like him. He has respect for the pupils and the pupils respect him. And I loved him in the movie. He made the movie =) This movie is for everyone. People get bullied everyday. It gets worse everyday. All schools should show this to their pupils as it has a great message and kids could actually learn something from it. I give this movie a solid 9/10 A proper family film that everyone would enjoy =D
-
Dr_Coulardeau26 August 2012This is a tender film because it deals with kids in eighth grade, just before high school, at the tender age of 14. At that age you have a certain number of kids, boys but also girls, who are cruel like devils, just because they are meeting with some difficulty in their life they cannot deal with and their pride made them take it down upon others and bully them. Cruelty is the most common goody these kids are living with and sharing.
The film is done from the point of view of a rather short guy, shy and who is used to be told by his father he did not do what he was doing well enough and having to let his father finish it. He dreams of kissing the best-looking girl in the school. And his luck or rather un-luck, though it might have been his best luck ever, was to be paired by his literature teacher with the tallest, ugliest, red-headed smartest and most bullied guy in the class, in the school.
That's the basics of the kid's story. One kid who is the friend of the main bully, is such an idiot and a racist that he panics one day because he is touched by the girl with dental braces. He then attacks her to get the curse off when the red-headed giant monster, Big G for most students, Stanley for some, gets him off his prey. That little, short small-minded imbecile just spreads the rumour that the literature teacher is a homo, as they said in 1965. His father and his mother are dumb enough not to know a rumour is nothing but a rumour and their kid has the worst possible complex imaginable. The teacher refuses to deny it and prefers leaving the school at the end of the school year to satisfy the rumourmongers. That's the gay part of the film. In 1965 the word "homo" was one of the worst accusations you could level at anyone but particularly at teachers and a rumour was just as good as proof.
Don't believe that has entirely changed. Not yet, far from it. Look at the aftermath of the most segregational law I know, DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act enacted in 1996 under Bill Clinton. One of the two anti-gay acts he had passed in Congress and he enacted. One is down DADT, Don't Ask Don't Tell, and DOMA is still there and has produced the most ridiculous segregation you can imagine in a developed country today. They can't segregate for racial reasons or national reasons, though they still go on for religious reasons, but they compensate their frustration with segregation for sexual orientation reasons. And they block the only thing they can block: marriage.
The film is eloquent about that kind of bigotry. The teacher has to run. The students can offer him a carful of flowers at the end of the year that won't change the bigots. They say homosexuality is a catching disease. But bigotry is not a disease and it is unmendable. Better reserve your place in a crematorium because that's alas the only solution. With time some may yield, but the die-hard bigots will only be satisfied with the smell of fire and grilled human flesh. Better be theirs after all since they like it.
The students of course are hardly concerned by the rumour and they carry on with their business: kissing the girls they want to kiss, singing if they want to sing, desiring a life of achievement and success. The bullies generally end badly. In this film they did and it is supposed to be a true story so it is a good thing the main bully managed to get 10-15 years of state-paid vacation in a state penitentiary.
Such stories happen everyday in schools, but unluckily a fair share of them end up badly and I am absolutely ashamed with it. We are still far away from a society of love when hatred and bigotry is still so present: Forty-one US states have banned marriage for same-sex couples in a way or another. Forty-one reasons not to vote for the Mormon Romney since the Mormon Church considers homosexuality as a disease that has to be cured with all possible means. Just like scientology by the way. Good morning all the bigots.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU -
leftbanker-16 November 2015From the first words of this film you just know what you are in for: a "leave no cliché behind" clumsy attempt at recreating an "era." From the opening credits with TV ads and news reports of "those turbulent years" to the completely corny voice-over narration of the now-all-growed-up protagonist you know that you are in for a film about childhood seemingly written by someone who never had the experience himself. It's like the writer lived in the hospital during his formative years and only learned about this stuff from watching lousy 60s TV, or even worse, Happy Days which was a TV show depicting life in a fictional era. This movie is to adolescence in the 60s as Austin Powers is to spies of this time, except without the humor.
Has there ever been a more cliché bully in all of cinema? Even if a bully like this one ever existed he would be more of a lame creation than a human being. A one dimensional socio-path doesn't even rate as a character in a crappy horror movie.
There wasn't a single honest, authentic moment in this entire film. -
potternardia24 May 2013This movie is excellent, Students in school could learn a lot and it would teach them what bulling and being down right mean can do to a person. spreading ugly rumors about a person In this movie a teacher who had great skills to teach and the students who loved him. Saying that he was gay, or in the movie a homo. Just because he never remarried after his wife died. No facts, just someone wanting to hurt a person. Being the person in school that was bullied, and beat up, by students I can relate to this movie totally. One never knows about the hidden talent another person has. As shown in the talent show in the movie. This movie is a real eye opener to people who bully, and are just down right mean to other people. wonderful movie. I totally enjoyed it.
-
AnEyeSpy17 October 2011"That's what I am" (2011 DVD), writer, singer, whatever you want to be, favored English teacher Mr. Simon (Ed Harris) encourages 1965 students in their dreams. He pairs our Grade 8 narrator Andy (Chase Ellison) with Big G. (Alexander Walters), ginger, big-eared, for their big project. Stanley stands a foot taller than all, defends his fellow geeks, especially his best friend, the smallest student Norman (Daniel Yelsky), with dignity against the bullies. Andy learns tolerance, compassion, and resolve while pursuing his crush, the womanly ideal Mary (Mia Rose Frampton). Adults are drawn as individuals, larger than stereotypes: kind mother (Molly Parker), computer-literate father (Daniel Roebuck), concerned principal (Amy Madigan) who begs Mr. Simon to deny career-crushing rumor from a bully's parents.
-
planktonrules10 September 2023"That's What I am" is a wonderful film that had a VERY limited run and died at the box office. It's very sad, as the film really was very touching and enjoyable....and it nearly earned a 9 from me.
Andy (Chase Ellison) is an 8th grader back in 1965 and like nearly all his classmates, they love their English teacher, Mr. Simon (Ed Harris). He's a very decent and compassionate man...and tries very hard to instill these values in his students. One of these actions is pairing up Andy with 'Big G' (Alexander Walters)...a very awkward and huge kid who only has a few friends. While Andy isn't Mr. Popularity or a tough kid, he likes being average and accepted...and he's worried that being paired with Big G will somehow destroy him image. The film is about this, some ugly rumors about Mr. Simon, and about being decent to each other.
There is a lot to this story, though it all boils down to this decency....kids learning to treat each other well and accepting the diversity in those around them. It does NOT come off as ultra-PC or preachy...just a lovely story with really nice acting. In many ways, it's like a drama merged with the TV show "The Wonder Years"...but with much more depth. Well worth seeing and, as usual, Harris is simply amazing. -
yusufpiskin4 January 2021"Let the hanging begin."
That's What I Am is a coming of age story circling a bunch of 8th graders about tolerance. Its themes about bullying and prejudice are not original at all and since it's deliberately set in the 60s to have a subplot about homophobia it feels kind of outdated and too restrained to surface level commentary to become something effective and memorable. The set up for the story is pretty flimsy with most characters introduced never growing out of the trope role they're set to be. The film tries to build an interesting schoolyard microcosm at points but these moments are often too brief to stick and make a consistent overall picture. A lot of the adult characters are just very boring in their stubborn onesidedness and make the confrontations more frustrating than engaging. This includes WWE star Randy Orton's role which is nothing more than a very one-note homophobic abusive parent. While I want to say that Orton did give a pretty decent performance for what he's given the character itself just isn't very interesting. Some of the kid actors give quite decent performances but most of their characters are way too underdeveloped to let the sentimental moments have much effect. Daniel Yelsky gave one of the most engaging performances in the movie as one of the supporting characters.
While the story is very weak especially in the first half of the film and quite cheesy throughout all of it it does manage to finish in a decently heartfelt way that somewhat saves it from being a completely forgettable bland flick. -
Ken-20-231835 April 2011This film is well produced, especially well acted, and well directed but none of the plot rings true. There is absolutely nothing ambiguous about the plot even though a big plot point could use a little mystery. Every little piece of plot is nicely wrapped up by the end of the film and we're meant to feel all warm and cuddly at the end.
It owes entirely too much to films like Diner where there's an older narrator that is the main character (and presumably the screenwriter),and the end credits feature the now clichéd "where are they now" updates that are meant to provoke laughs. The young characters are all clichés without any originality -- they come strictly from the Stand By Me, etc., etc. template.
Ed Harris and Amy Madigan are fine in their roles and actually bring more to the film than what is on the page. Chase Ellison, the lead, is a likable actor who shows signs of becoming a better actor and heartthrob. Alexander Walters survives nicely despite his prosthetic ears, and Daniel Yelsky, as the last of the young featured players has an excellent bead on his character.
There's a song in this film that is supposedly made up by one of the characters. It's pretty terrible which actually works when the neophyte songwriting character sings it. But then it appears over the end credits as if it's a good song -- which it ain't.
All in all this film has not a moment of truth in it. Too bad since the cast is trying their best and are completely immersed in the material. -
gregg-13021 January 2015Having been around in 1965, the year in which That's What I Am takes place, I just had to put in my 2 cents, regarding the look. First off, in 1965 the Beatles had been known in the U.S. for less than 1 year, and though as I recall, growing up in North Jersey, by '65 there were maybe a handful of kids attempting to embrace the hairstyle, this movie is littered with mop tops. 1965 was still a pretty conservative time and in general, if a kid got their parents to agree to letting their bangs being even 1" longer, it was a miracle. But long and over the ears? Never. It's the Chachi factor -- Happy Days inaccuracies continue. Second item: The Cars. Though true there were still fifties cars around in 1965, this movie looks like a classic car show. When I discovered this film recently, until I saw the main character's quaf, I thought it was going to be another greaser movie. 3: The Clothes. I swear I saw the mother wearing a psychedelic blouse. Whatever. 4th, the angry parents coming out against the gay Mr. Simon... In 1965 authority ruled. The school was always right and the parents agreed. If kids spread a rumor, parents went with the school. I can't count how many times I saw teachers man handle bad kids and get away with it, and I went to a public school. For all the money they spend to make these movies, you would think the fact checkers would peer a little closer into the facts.
-
markovd11123 December 2022"That's What I Am" is entertaining movie which reminds me a lot of "Malcolm in the Middle", not because of the chaos or over the top characters, but because of the style. It tells a story about a boy in the 60s who is starting to learn more about life in general. It tackles themes such as love, personal growth and confidence, bullying, social elitism and homosexuality and homophobia. Even though the movie talks about homosexuality and homophobia, it's not done in a modern woke way which makes your brain hurt and blood boil. Instead, it's done in a warm, humane manner which will fill you with understanding and sympathy because the movie doesn't talk about LGBTQ rights, but about the fact that one teacher is supposed to be fired because it's suspected he's a homosexual and that's something everyone can understand. But, I digress. The movie is a great piece of fun and I recommend it to everyone. I will give it 10/10 because it's a good coming-of-age story and I can't find anything wrong with it. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. But what it does, it does well and therefore the maximum amount of stars.
-
marina_simakova23 May 2015The movie is about how time and opportunity helps us to define who we are. And who we become later, our ultimate destination. And how teachers, great teachers mean a lot and can show the way and recognize our potentials. Motivating and uplifting, also greatly elaborated and poetic language, which Andy is using to tell his tale. Romantic story line is also very endearing. Mary Clear is definitely a very special character in this movie, and Andy's travel through this tunnel from the boy to a man is very symbolic and exciting to watch. I really enjoyed the movie and found characters to be very realistic. Just go ahead and dream, over the limitations of your school walls, prejudices and bigots, or local bullies. Cause life is not what it seems, not what it is in those teenager years.