Sidney, you are one of the most amazing actors to ever grace the silver screen, which is why it pains me so to criticize this film. "To Sir, With Love" was so good, which makes part two so disappointing. TSWL2 was so didactic, so idealistic, so puerile it was too sappy for an afterschool special.
The movie started like many teacher reform movies--"To Sir, With Love," "Lean on Me," "The Marva Collins Story," "The George McKenna Story," "Sister Act 2," and "Dangerous Minds" to name a few. Mr. Thackeray (Sidney Poitier) enters his class and we see every level of depravity, disrespect, and delinquency. A couple of gangbangers, a prostitute, a pimp, a thief, and everything in between. They're noisy, foul, lost souls and they had their one leader whom the whole raucous class followed. It was a lazy trope that had been done too many times before. It's like, "How malicious, disobedient, and criminal can we make these kids to make the teacher's reformation that much more amazing?" Maybe it would have been more palatable had this theme not been done so often.
Mr. Thackeray settled into typical win-them-over-with-care style and began to gain their respect. He suffered their abuses with Biblical patience and forbearance while thrusting himself in harm's way to win over their hearts.
Because this movie was so thoroughly lacking in originality Sidney Poitier even reprised his role and a scene from "A Piece of the Action." In that movie he took his pupils out in the world to show them what it means to practice "common courtesies" and how they could get good responses from people. In TSWL2 he took his class out in the streets to show his students that they could affect people's perceptions of them with their behavior. It was all so adorable and all so déjà vu.
Mr. Thackeray garnered the love, respect, and attention of his entire class. Eventually, though, he was asked to resign from the school for not assisting the police in an investigation of a gun he got from a student. In other words, Mr. Thackeray ain't no snitch.
Mr. Thackeray took his forced resignation like a G and just walked. And just like the movie "Dangerous Minds" from the year prior, the kids took his resignation as abandonment. They all seemed to adopt him as their missing father figure and couldn't bear to see him leave though they were set to graduate in only a few months time.
Mr. Thackeray wasn't done being a savior though. The main badass, Wilsie (Christian Payton), got a gun and was in danger of being killed in a shootout. Thackeray went to the location of this prearranged shootout and offered himself up as sacrifice to save Wilsie's life. It was Christ-like.
After this act of heroism Thackeray victoriously walked back to his class with the entire school walking behind him locked in step. I almost expect them to break out in song and dance. He resumed his teaching to a totally reformed class: obedient, attentive, and morally upright.
The movie wasn't done giving us Disney moments. At the graduation dance the school pimp tried to snatch his main money making prostitute from her celebration. Not only did gangster Wilsie stop him, but the entire class stood behind him in unity to help defend the damsel in distress. Quite literally every problem was solved, every loose end tied up so that the movie ended in the most neat happy way imaginable. There's hardly an 80's sitcom that can compare with TSWL2, which is sad.
The movie started like many teacher reform movies--"To Sir, With Love," "Lean on Me," "The Marva Collins Story," "The George McKenna Story," "Sister Act 2," and "Dangerous Minds" to name a few. Mr. Thackeray (Sidney Poitier) enters his class and we see every level of depravity, disrespect, and delinquency. A couple of gangbangers, a prostitute, a pimp, a thief, and everything in between. They're noisy, foul, lost souls and they had their one leader whom the whole raucous class followed. It was a lazy trope that had been done too many times before. It's like, "How malicious, disobedient, and criminal can we make these kids to make the teacher's reformation that much more amazing?" Maybe it would have been more palatable had this theme not been done so often.
Mr. Thackeray settled into typical win-them-over-with-care style and began to gain their respect. He suffered their abuses with Biblical patience and forbearance while thrusting himself in harm's way to win over their hearts.
Because this movie was so thoroughly lacking in originality Sidney Poitier even reprised his role and a scene from "A Piece of the Action." In that movie he took his pupils out in the world to show them what it means to practice "common courtesies" and how they could get good responses from people. In TSWL2 he took his class out in the streets to show his students that they could affect people's perceptions of them with their behavior. It was all so adorable and all so déjà vu.
Mr. Thackeray garnered the love, respect, and attention of his entire class. Eventually, though, he was asked to resign from the school for not assisting the police in an investigation of a gun he got from a student. In other words, Mr. Thackeray ain't no snitch.
Mr. Thackeray took his forced resignation like a G and just walked. And just like the movie "Dangerous Minds" from the year prior, the kids took his resignation as abandonment. They all seemed to adopt him as their missing father figure and couldn't bear to see him leave though they were set to graduate in only a few months time.
Mr. Thackeray wasn't done being a savior though. The main badass, Wilsie (Christian Payton), got a gun and was in danger of being killed in a shootout. Thackeray went to the location of this prearranged shootout and offered himself up as sacrifice to save Wilsie's life. It was Christ-like.
After this act of heroism Thackeray victoriously walked back to his class with the entire school walking behind him locked in step. I almost expect them to break out in song and dance. He resumed his teaching to a totally reformed class: obedient, attentive, and morally upright.
The movie wasn't done giving us Disney moments. At the graduation dance the school pimp tried to snatch his main money making prostitute from her celebration. Not only did gangster Wilsie stop him, but the entire class stood behind him in unity to help defend the damsel in distress. Quite literally every problem was solved, every loose end tied up so that the movie ended in the most neat happy way imaginable. There's hardly an 80's sitcom that can compare with TSWL2, which is sad.