Front of the Class

Adapted from Brad Cohen's memoir, this follows a young man with Tourette syndrome trying to become a teacher. As a child his involuntary sounds and sudden movements are read by everyone as misbehaviour, his own father included. The film's best scene puts him on a school stage to explain his condition to the other pupils, because it is the first time anyone is permitted to ask him a question instead of guessing. Jimmy Wolk plays the adult Brad, with Treat Williams and Patricia Heaton as his parents and Peter Werner directing. It aired on CBS on 7 December 2008 in the Hallmark Hall of Fame slot and drew more than twelve million viewers. Its limits are the limits of the format. The music tells you what to feel, and a long run of rejected job interviews is compressed into a single montage. What it does get right is the daily exhaustion of the condition rather than its shock value. Who it is for: viewers who want a true and encouraging story. Who it is not for: anyone allergic to television sentiment.