Helmed by the gifted
Randa Haines (
Children of a Lesser God,
The Doctor), the inspirational drama The Ron Clark Story tells the real-life tale of Clark (
Matthew Perry), a teacher from upstate New York who moves to Manhattan and re-instills courage and hope into the lives of many down-and-out students. Via highly innovative teaching strategies and rule sets, and an ongoing, strenuous effort, Clark manages to turn several lives around and raises students' test scores to admirable levels. His star pupils include a young girl forced to both attend school and care for her siblings and a graffiti-prone young man who rechannels his energies into more traditional painting with Clark's encouragement. In the end, even when pneumonia threatens to keep Clark down, he refuses to let it.
Ernie Hudson (
Ghostbusters) and Hannah Hodson co-star; Granada America produced. Max Enscoe and Annie deYoung scripted. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide