Waiting for 'Superman' (2010)
"Waiting for Superman" (original title)

Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim reminds us that education "statistics" have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of WAITING FOR ... See full summary »

Director:

Davis Guggenheim

Writers:

Davis Guggenheim, Billy Kimball

Stars:

Charles Adam, Charles Adams, Jonathan Alter

13 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Charles Adam	...	Himself
Charles Adams	...	Himself
Jonathan Alter	...	Himself
Robert Balfanz	...	Himself
Harriet Ball	...	Herself
Steve Barr	...	Himself
Ms. Celeste Bell	...	Herself
The Black & McGee Family	...	Themselves
Geoffrey Canada	...	Himself
James Carter III	...	Himself
Todd Dickson	...	Himself
The Esparza Family	...	Themselves
Mike Feinberg	...	Himself
Adrian Fenty	...	Himself
Howard Fuller	...	Himself

Storyline

Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim reminds us that education "statistics" have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of WAITING FOR SUPERMAN. As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying "drop-out factories" and "academic sinkholes," methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems.

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Plot Keywords:

education | redwood city california | california | los angeles california | girl | 

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Taglines:

The fate of our country won't be decided on a battlefield, it will be determined in a classroom.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some thematic material, mild language and incidental smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 November 2010 (Ireland)

Also Known As:

Waiting for 'Superman'

Filming Locations:

118th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$139,033 (USA) (24 September 2010)

Gross:

$6,410,257 (USA) (17 December 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Electric Kinney Films, Participant Media, Walden Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Geoffrey Canada: I was like what do you mean he's not real. And she thought I was crying because it's like Santa Claus is not real and I was crying because there was no one coming with enough power to save us.

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Connections

Features The School of Rock (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Wake Up Everybody"
Written by Victor Carstarphen, Gene McFadden and John Whitehead
Performed by John Legend & The Roots (feat. Melanie Fiona)
Courtesy of Getting Out Our Dreams and Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
The Roots appear courtesy of Def Jam Records
Melanie Fiona appears courtesy of SRC/Universal Records

User Reviews

This stirring documentary sends out shock-waves of injustice

This stirring documentary sends out shock-waves of injustice and even a bit of a sense of futility when it explores the state of America's public schools. Interviews with education specialists, school superintendents and even Bill Gates add up to an impressive assembly of informed adults who know what the problem is, but haven't figured out a way to fix it on a large scale.

Washington, D.C. schools superintendent Michelle Rhee says it well when she summarizes the basic problem: "Public schools fail when children's education becomes about the adults." The adults who fail these children are not limited to public officials and government bureaucrats, though; a large portion of the blame is reserved for ineffective teachers and the teachers' unions who ensure that those teachers receive tenure and cannot be removed from schools. The documentary focuses on five public school children who represent inner-city kids with broken families and day-to-day financial struggles (except for a student of middle-class parents in the Silicon Valley). With that one exception, all are enrolled in failing public elementary schools and have little chance of graduating high school if they move on to the assigned secondary schools in their districts. The tear-jerking climax sees each of the kids attending a lottery drawing for limited spaces at public charter schools and rare, effective public schools within or outside of their district. Witnessing the academic chances for these kids being decided by such a random, impersonal process is heart-breaking and calls into question the very nature of American values like "Protestant work ethic," "equality," "freedom" and "the ability to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" and make the future brighter.

The language is limited to a few expletives. The film deals with a tangled web of adult issues that make a child's education more difficult, which probably puts it outside the spectrum of interest for most kids under age 12. However, when watched with parents, it could create some valuable family discussions on the importance of education and may even activate a family to become advocates for change. We award "Waiting for Superman" the Dove Family-Approved Seal for audiences over age 12 and praise the filmmakers for presenting many teachable moments.