That's What I Am (2011)

A coming-of-age story set in 1965 that follows 12-year-old Andy Nichol (Chase Ellison), a bright student who, like most kids his age, will do anything to avoid conflict for fear of ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Pavone

Writer:

Michael Pavone

Stars:

Ed Harris, Chase Ellison, Molly Parker

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ed Harris	...	Mr. Simon
Chase Ellison	...	Andy Nichol
Molly Parker	...	Sherri Nichol
Daniel Roebuck	...	Jim Nichol
Randy Orton	...	Ed Freel
Daniel Yelsky	...	Norman Grunmeyer
Alexander Walters	...	Big G
Mia Rose Frampton	...	Mary Clear
Amy Madigan	...	Principal Kelner
Camille E. Bourgeois III	...	Jason Freel (as Camille Bourgeois)
Renwick D. Scott II	...	Dan Rainier
Jordan Reynolds	...	Ricky Brown
Vanessa Cloke	...	Irene Freel
Sarah Celano	...	Karen 'Cootie' Connor
Dalton Mitchell	...	Sam Nolan (as Dalton Zachary Mitchell)

Storyline

A coming-of-age story set in 1965 that follows 12-year-old Andy Nichol (Chase Ellison), a bright student who, like most kids his age, will do anything to avoid conflict for fear of suffering overwhelming ridicule and punishment from his junior high school peers. Everyone's favorite teacher, Mr. Simon (Ed Harris), pairs Andy with the school's biggest outcast and social pariah, Stanley, aka "Big G" (Alexander Walters), on a critical term project. Sporting thick orange hair, a head too big for his body and ears too big for his head, "Big G" has been the object of ridicule since grade school. Before long, Andy will learn that there was truly a method behind Mr. Simon's madness as to why he teamed these two up. As the story unfolds, Mr. Simon finds himself the target of a malicious rumor after Principal Kelner (Amy Madigan) suspends a school bully for brutally beating up a female classmate whom he thinks has "cooties." When Andy watches "Big G" fearlessly confront the school bully, a ...

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Plot Keywords:

school | bully | teacher | principal | junior high school | 

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Taglines:

I'm a Teacher. I'm a Singer. I'm a Writer.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic material throughout, language and some bullying

Details

Official Sites:

World Wrestling Entertainment [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Big Ginger

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Randy Orton's film debut.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 30 mins) When Andy is headed to Mr. Simon's house, a white 90s Lincoln Town Car can been seen in the background.

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Quotes

Mr. Clear: You know, it's funny, I... I've been watching you deliver your papers there and, uh... You've got a hell of an arm, by the way, kid.
Andy Nichol: Thank you.
Mr. Clear: But somehow you just seem to hit everybody's porch but mine. You got any theories on that?

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Crazy Credits

During the credits photos from the Eagles yearbook are accompanied by a brief description of the future of the main characters.

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Connections

Featured in Great Movie Mistakes III: Not in 3D (2011)

User Reviews

WWE films finally take off in the right direction!

Well i guess if you continue doing something eventually you will get better at it. Now i don't know if its either the cast hired on here or the WWE writers like i said are just getting better at it? Needless to say it was the best movie i have seen by the WWE as of yet. Actually it should be one i would suggest school's to acquire a copy of to show to their different class full of children as its portrays a great message on how to handle certain topics that unfortunately rear their ugly heads from time and time again. Homosexuality, bully ism and all prejudice against them. Now myself being a huge fan of the WWE's wrestling end of things i was brilliantly surprised by Randy Orton's role in this (even though if it is 5-10mins in total) film. I have seen Dwayne Johnson in the WWE's first feature Walking Tall, I even gave Cena a bit of credit for last year's Legendary but just watching Orton on screen and he just looked so natural doing it. I know there is a certain amount of acting in wrestling however they are not the best of actors however Randy seems like if he wanted to seriously think of another career if he ever got seriously injured he could quite definitely rely on acting to foot the bills. After some school bullies cannot get to their intended targets in school they take it upon themselves and make a compliant to their parents about the sexuality of their teacher Mr. Simon (Ed Harris) this causes a a parent in general who is much like his son to complain to the principal. So as you see the storyline just doesn't sit with the kids as the adults get a learning lesson throughout as well. Good family sit down movie!