Nothing original in this tale, although I don't see the major resemblance to Good Will Hunting that is touted, but rather a thousand previous pieces of schlock on fish out of water youths and their inspirational teachers who have withdrawn from society. The pedestrian story is further undercut by a really god-awful ending, which was lousy enough the first time I had to suffer through it in Scent of a Woman.
But this one is worth a watch anyway, once it's out for rental. Sean Connery doesn't phone it in as yet another reclusive writer who disappeared after writing The One Great Book, but takes it a bit farther into a worthwhile performance--certainly not one of his best, but much better than any of his recent work. Rob Brown is excellent in an impossible part--a brilliant, incredibly well-read black kid who uses his knowledge of the writer's identity as a mild form of blackmail.
The other reason for tuning in: a really remarkable basketball competition between the only two black kids at a tony prep school where Brown ends up after his extraordinarily high test scores are discovered. Very informative, in its own way, and explains more about inner city priorities and values than a hundred earnest tracts on the subject.
Halfway through the film, Spawn turned to me and whispered, "This is a great movie!" That, too, is information worth registering. Any movie that values writing, brains, and honesty and doesn't turn off teens has clearly done something right.
