What looks like a good cast was wasted here. Sarah Jessica Parker as one of the college deans is simply not suited to the part. Miranda Richardson is just awful here. Beau Bridges, a fine character actor, is almost totally wasted, with perhaps one good scene. Mykelti Williamson is just "okay". Victor Rasuk is a good younger actor whose part here borders on being rediculous ( character has a point, but really, too many hysterics). The best actor in the bunch is Paul James, around whom the film revolves, but he only had one good scene.
But the problem isn't the actors. The problem is with an amaeturish script. Some of the dialogue is just so weak, and almost laughable. Plus, it's one of those films where you (at least I did) figure out the climax of the film just 5 minutes into the film (I won't reveal it here).
The premise here is that at a mostly white private college in New England there is a hate crime (actually crimes) against one particular Black student. First of all, he wasn't the only Black student at the college, so why was it targeted toward him? That was the first clue as to the climax. The college consistenly fumbles in trying to work through the hate crime episode, because they want to talk down to the students and never listen to them.
Perhaps the biggest problem of all is that the film should have focused on the charater played by Paul James. Instead it focused on Sarah Jessica Parker. Big mistake.
This was one of those films which could have great but turned out to be slop. It's one of those films where you seriously ask yourself why didn't someone notice how far off the rails this was going.
But the problem isn't the actors. The problem is with an amaeturish script. Some of the dialogue is just so weak, and almost laughable. Plus, it's one of those films where you (at least I did) figure out the climax of the film just 5 minutes into the film (I won't reveal it here).
The premise here is that at a mostly white private college in New England there is a hate crime (actually crimes) against one particular Black student. First of all, he wasn't the only Black student at the college, so why was it targeted toward him? That was the first clue as to the climax. The college consistenly fumbles in trying to work through the hate crime episode, because they want to talk down to the students and never listen to them.
Perhaps the biggest problem of all is that the film should have focused on the charater played by Paul James. Instead it focused on Sarah Jessica Parker. Big mistake.
This was one of those films which could have great but turned out to be slop. It's one of those films where you seriously ask yourself why didn't someone notice how far off the rails this was going.