Waiting for 'Superman' (2010)

An examination of the current state of education in America today.

Director:

Davis Guggenheim

Writers:

Davis Guggenheim, Billy Kimball

Stars:

Charles Adams, Jonathan Alter, Robert Balfanz

16 wins & 28 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Charles Adams	...	Self
Jonathan Alter	...	Self
Robert Balfanz	...	Self
Harriet Ball	...	Self
Steve Barr	...	Self
Ms. Celeste Bell	...	Self
The Black & McGee Family	...	Themselves
Geoffrey Canada	...	Self
James Carter III	...	Self
Todd Dickson	...	Self
The Esparza Family	...	Themselves
Mike Feinberg	...	Self
Adrian M. Fenty	...	Self (as Adrian Fenty)
Howard Fuller	...	Self
The Garcia Regalado Family	...	Themselves

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 | new york | los angeles california | redwood city california | woodside california | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a scene in which Bianca, one of the little girls, is reading from a book about someone taking apples and bringing them into the city to sell. The book she is reading is called "The Giving Tree" written by Shel Silverstein.

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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

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #19.101 (2011)

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Soundtracks

Takin' Care of Business
Written by Randy Bachman
Performed by Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Repetitious and not that shocking at points, but the build up of the film's five case studies is powerful.

Waiting for 'Superman' is a documentary from Davis Guggenheim, the director of 2006's An Inconvenient Truth, that examines the faults and labyrinthine bureaucratics of America's educational government, a government more interested in protecting the jobs and pay salaries of lazy educators in public schools, rather than properly educating the average child.

The film isn't all that shocking. I admire the format, and the presentation of the film, but problems with the education of American children have been a highly publicized matter, especially a few of the points of which Guggenheim presents. At times it even feels like he's stating the obvious, and even repetitious in regards to sub-par school houses he points fingers at.

But the film's strongest impact comes from the case studies of five children, who show strong potential, but their parents struggle to set them up with the necessary education, placing them at the mercy of lotteries that determines the lucky few who get to attend successful charter schools. Their build-up is near impeccable, leading up to the film's emotionally powerful third act. A third act that, afterwards, is complimented perfectly by "Shine", a beautiful end credits song by John Legend, and overall one of the film year's very best original songs.

It isn't perfect, but I'm gonna give Waiting for 'Superman' *** out of ****

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

29 October 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Waiting for 'Superman'

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$139,033, 26 September 2010

Gross USA:

$6,417,135

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,433,688

Company Credits

Production Co:

Electric Kinney Films, Participant, Walden Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color Black and White (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1