Rating 6 out of 10 stars. Woke Nonsense-Minor

This movie is worth watching, although I am not certain it merits $20 at the multi plex. The movie is one that can be described as a slice of life. Not a superhero movie, not a rom com, not a nothing-happens euro art flick. Just good, old fashioned story telling.

Paul Giamatti stars, and is the main reason the movie is of interest. An accomplished and always watchable movie star, (well except in Big Fat Liar), he delivers a solid performance as a long time, burned out teacher at a private boys school. 

The movie also stars Da’Vine Joy Randolph as the school cook. She’s game, but I did not find her part interesting or compelling. 

Giamatti and several young charges are stuck at the school over Christmas Break. He is crabby, stuck in a rut, hated by the students at the school for being a jerk. IT is not clear whether he is actually a good educator. He manages to piss everyone off, the result of doing a job he seems to have grown tired of decades hence.

The other main protagonist is Dominic Sessa, portraying a neglected young man whose resentment has caused him to get thrown out of multiple schools and put him on the verge of making the same happen here. He does a creditable job of playing the all too familiar theme of a kid whose rich parents who have no interest in him. 

You can tell by the fact that critics loved this movie that it does not have a hollywood ending. You have trouble liking anyone with a significant role. 

I know that does not sound all that appealing, but the acting and the storyline are always engaging. You can enjoy professionals succeeding in creating believable characters, the arc of the story. You know, seeing a good movie that does not involve klingons, or the mediocrity which infest most of the movie industry today. The lack of woke themes is a nice bonus.