boylel I rented the DVD because I come from a family of teachers, and one of them recommended that I watch the film in order to gain a better understanding of their jobs. I found it to be entertaining, but I obviously didn't appreciate it as much as teachers seem to, just as they probably don't appreciate all of the humor I find in "Office Space".The teachers who call this "true to life" must mean this in the same sense that a Korean War veteran once told me that M*A*S*H was true to life-- as a good caricature of some of the more extreme people and situations, intermixed with some reminders of what daily life was like, not as anything close to a realistic snapshot.I don't want to believe that there are really very many high school teachers like that. I wouldn't expect students to feel much respect for any of them.Time for me to get back to my TPS reports.

wjones3044 it was not immediately clear that this was a scripted movie; as a documentary it would have fared better.the realism is there, unfortunately. any former teacher who watches this is likely to experience a particularly poisonous form of nostalgia for the first few years of the classroom.so we are left with a "comedy" that is not funny and a "documentary" that includes a fantasy dance sequence between two of the teachers, along with extraneous footage of teachers playing basketball at the end of the school year.this is the only movie about school i've ever considered turning off.

jennifer-494 Attention Bruce Burns, I am so very glad you are not a teacher because you seem far too smug and self-important with apparently no sense of humor. You would be a terrible instructor.Moving on...I am a middle school English teacher who absolutely *adored* Chalk. It nailed the nuances, struggles, and joys of teaching, and it made me even more convinced I've got one of the best jobs on earth.As someone who entered teaching as a second career after working as a reporter, I can honestly say teaching is not for everyone. But if you're bright, caring, and can think fast on your feet, you might be cut out for it. The rewards are everything you would imagine them to be, and the challenges are far bigger than you could envision. "Chalk" celebrated it all without being overly sentimental like so many of those cheesy teacher as lifesaver films that are out there.For me, the best moment of the film came at the very end when Mr. Lowery is trying to rap with his students. It was so human, and the hard-won affection from his students was so real...I could totally relate.Schools are like little small towns full of gossips, crazies, heroes, and everything in between..."Chalk" nailed that as well...complete with the Happy Hours every teacher knows and loves (and depends on!).Overall a great little film that will ring true for anyone with a sense of humor...and especially with anyone who has ever uttered the words, "All right everyone, get out a piece of paper and put your name on the corner." :-)

jared-215 I'm a big Christopher Guest fan and honestly went into this film expecting to be disappointed, but wound up being pleasantly surprised. Chalk was very entertaining, often hilarious, at times touching, and even managed to pull everything together to actually tell a story pretty well. The development of the Mr. Lowery character from start to finish was great. There were only a handful of actors in the film (the rest were real students, principals, teachers, etc.) and they were great. Troy Schremmer was excellent. Anyhow, I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys finding comedy in the ridiculousness of life or basically anyone who enjoys good mockumentaries. Or, people who are teachers or are related to teachers and know that world. Two thumbs up.