English Movie 2009 The Provience Effect
Cast And Crew
Release Date: Friday, September 25, 2009 (Limited)
Studio: Slowhand Cinema Releasing
Director: Rollin Binzer
Starring: Not Available
Genre: Documentary
Rating: PG
Duration: 1hr 32min
Reviews
This is the remarkable story of a K through 12 school on Chicago's impoverished, high crime West Side, that has been sending 100% of graduating seniors to four year colleges and universities for 30 years. More than half of them are accepted by tier one schools and the class of 2008 was awarded more than $4.5 million in college scholarships. Providence St. Mel is a school that has completely escaped America's educational crisis.
Paul J. Adams III, an African-American man with activist roots in the 1960s civil rights movement, came from a family of teachers. After being black listed himself as a teacher in Alabama because of his civil rights activities, he moved to Chicago, received a master’s degree in psychology, and then landed a job as guidance counselor at Providence St. Mel, an all-black parochial school on Chicago’s notorious drug-ridden, gang-ruled West Side. "The Providence Effect" is an account of an individual man, the inner city Chicago school he founded, and the student lives that school has changed and saved.
If there's an argument against the Providence St. Mel prep school being the supreme model for remaking American education, you won't find it in "The Providence Effect," a portrait of a highly successful Chicago institution that feels more like a grant application than a social-issue doc. A PSA for educational tough love, "Providence" has earned better grades on the fest circuit than it's likely to get in a theatrical arena, where nonfiction frequently flunks out. Limited release begins Sept. 25.
Helmer Rollin Binzer's chief problem is tardiness: As "The Providence Effect" commences, Paul Adams III and his experiment in highly disciplined education have long been established. They've achieved a 100% success rate in college placement of seniors, and the bouquets have long been thrown; Ronald Reagan is the president we see visiting Providence St. Mel and praising the man who remade it. All of which is well and good but utterly devoid of conflict, aka drama. Witnessing testimonials about what's been accomplished don't quite match seeing something happen.
And a prime opportunity for something compelling seems to have been missed. Providence St. Mel decides to open a charter K-5 school, to see if its policies can translate to a public building and younger students. Reflecting on the school's success, Adams catalogues all the problems they faced, including unions, work rules and "things that don't have anything to do with children." But what are they? Why don't we get to see all this happen? Watching the struggle unfold would have made a movie out of the garland of roses Binzer throws at Adams.
Opening with a graduation ceremony and establishing the school's credentials, Binzer has little to offer, it seems, besides a parade of talking heads (from inside St. Mel's, or among its graduates), all of whom praise Adams and the school he resurrected after it was abandoned by the Chicago archdiocese. Adams' credentials as a social activist are established via footage of the civil rights fight of the '60s, in which Adams participated -- the point being that while there's no shortage of nobility in "The Providence Effect," a little such confrontation would have cured its ills as cinema.
Production values are largely adequate, although Tom Dumont and Ted Matson's score shows exceptional promise and works well with others.
"The Providence Effect" is the story of an individual man, the inner city Chicago school he founded, and the student lives the school has changed and saved. The school, Providence - St. Mel, has a 30-year 100% college placement record; with an "old school" approach to learning --- "Do the work" --- and a dedicated corps of teachers and administrators, Providence – St. Mel can serve as the model for revamping all of American education.
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