Search - Learning Curve on DVD

Learning Curve Gets Down to Business!

Mark Sawyer | Mexia, TX | 10/07/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Some times we just have to cut to the chase and get down to business. "Learning Curve" does just that - writer/director Andy Anderson has a particular take on life and it vividly shows in this film. "Curve" is not a movie you see every day. The market forces would never create a story like this as it should be - this is where independent filmmaking shines. So, a high school teacher can't teach his students - they just don't want to learn (not that they CAN'T learn!)...I've been witness to situations similar to this in my high school days. I was put in low-level applied classes with all the goof-offs and Dopeheads and Metal Heads: all who didn't want to learn a thing. Needless to say I wasn't one of them, I did want to learn, but spending three years with these types of students left me with a sour after taste in my mouth in regards to the public school system...So, now comes "Learning Curve" and with this teacher's method of teaching, I applaude with great glee. Learning through imprisonment and electric shock cuts through the B.S. and gets right to the heart of the matter. And what's more, IT WORKED! They did begin to learn! Overall, Mr. Anderson has crafted a film that's part satire, part reality and part shocking. This is his second feature film and I hope that I won't have to wait years and years to see his next effort on the big screen!"

I've seen all 3 versions of this film

J. C Clark | Overland Park, KS United States | 12/10/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"And this is the weakest. This film began some years ago as Detention, a black black-comedy with lots of gritty raw footage. A movie that grabbed you by the lapels and shook you, it precluded all mealy-mouthed hem-hawing about good and evil. But that same year, another film with the same name was released, and this Detention got lost. Andy recut it, chopped about 30 minutes, gave it a new name, and offered Very Special Ed, a brilliant, scathing, frightening movie that worked in every direction. I had thought the original unimprovable. I was wrong.

But now he has recut it again, and it is diminished by the newest rearrangements. Some scenes were (I think) reshot, and they seem curiously without energy, as if everyone felt they had done this once already. The forcefulness is lost, and the new ending, while similar to the previous versions, again, comes out a bit tepid.

A wonderful film is in here, this just isn't it. Still pretty good, with some flashes that are so good they shake you (e.g. the now shortened assembly scene where the teachers are learning just how many times they are supposed to look at a student) but overall, a notch below its previous lives.

One wishes it success, but the disappointment of seeing something wonderful reduced, for whatever reasons, is saddening."

One of those unexpected pleasures

Stephen J. Zavarella | Vernon, CT USA | 10/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I just happened onto this little independent film, and must tell you - was pleasently surprised. I really didn't know what to expect from this film, but as I was watching it I soon realized that my eyes were glued to the screen for the full 108 minutes that it ran. I know that many of the other reviewers have stated excellent observations, however, I would just like to add my endorsement. Check this one out. Rent it, buy it . . . you won't be dissapointed. As I was watching; it did remind me of another picture I saw years ago titled "Class of '84." These two films would make a great double-bill!"