That's What I Am

1965, an American middle school. Andy is twelve and his teacher Mr Simon gives him an assignment: he will work with Stanley, the most excluded boy in the class. Stanley is tall, red haired and big eared; everyone calls him Big G and nobody sits near him. Another matter is growing at the school at the same time: a pupil's family is spreading a rumour about Mr Simon and the principal wants him to deny it. Simon refuses to answer. Michael Pavone writes and directs. Ed Harris plays Mr Simon and Alexander Walters plays Stanley, with Amy Madigan and Chase Ellison in the cast. The idea is the right not to explain. Simon could deny the rumour and does not; the narrative builds that not as a secret but as a principle, and does not answer the audience either. The second strand is bullying and the film does not solve it; Stanley is not accepted and is still not accepted at the end. It was financed by WWE Studios and stands entirely apart from that company's usual work. Its weakness is the nostalgic register; the voiceover and the idealised image of the sixties soften the hardness of the narrative. Who it is for: viewers who like school drama and Ed Harris. Who it is not for: the narrative is predictable, the voiceover explains too much, and some resolutions come easily.