The Good Student (2006)

Simply A Masterpiece

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Admirable film.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The Good Student is a dark comedy drama starring Tim Daly and Hayden Panettiere.The story is about a high school teacher,who turns his life around after a student gets kidnapped.It was directed by David Ostry.An unpopular high school teacher finds himself the primary suspect in the case of a missing student when news gets out that he was the last person to see her.Mr. Gibb is reviled among the student body as quite possibly the worst teacher ever to stand at the head of the class. He's infatuated with Ally, a popular teen and local celebrity. When Ally suddenly goes missing, the entire suburban town descends into panic. Could Mr. Gibb have something to do with her disappearance? When a police investigation reveals that Mr. Gibb gave Ally a ride home mere moments before she vanished without a trace, the teacher who was universally despised discovers that his troubles have only just begun.The could have been interesting but unfortunately,it leaves the viewer wanting for more.The drama was not interesting and the comedy falls flat.Also,the characters in the film are hardly understood especially Mr.Gibb's fascination towards Ally.Why?Just because she is good looking doesn't explain everything.The only thing going for it is the presence of Hayden Panettiere,who is very pretty; and it will keep you guessing until the very end.

The Good Student is a neat little character study in quiet desperation that is ill served by an illogical and unnecessary twist ending. It's enjoyable and effective enough that you won't mind the poor finish, though, and the twist happens so late that you can really just ignore it and focus on the calm, sedate confidence of this story and its take on small town existence.Ronald Gibb (Tim Daly) is a history teacher who dresses up as Lincoln for class and gets peanut butter sandwiches thrown at the blackboard when his back is turned. Ron is also the sort of man who drives a piece of crap car and lives in a relatively run down trailer, even though he's got a box full of money under his sink. He's also the kind who is oblivious to the attentions of the bowling alley bartender (Paula Devicq) who lives next door but develops an innocent crush one of his hot, young students (Hayden Panettiere).Then that hot, young student disappears and Ron is the last one to see her, bringing him into the sights of both the local cops and the girl's monstrous ass of a father (William Sadler). Ron's also constantly harassed by another smart alec student (Sarah Steele) who thinks she's got this lonely, awkward, older man all figured out and holds him in contempt because of it.The Good Student is about a man who's hiding from his own life, whose unhappiness is leading him into foolish behavior because he won't admit and deal with it. That inner conflict is then crystallized by the external problem of the missing girl and given a structure through which Ron eventually confronts himself and starts acting like a man instead of a hesitant boy. The connection between and inner and outer conflict is a well worn storytelling trope and a lot of low budget indy dramas think they can dispense with such a clichéd dramatic design. They're usually wrong to think that. Conventions become well worn because they work and creators dispense with them at their own peril. Anyone who thinks they're blazing a new narrative trail should remember two things.1. People have been telling stories for thousands of years and it's extremely unlikely you're doing anything that hasn't been done before.2. If you think you are, it's probably because people tried it, found it didn't work and learned not to do it that way.Even after thousands of years, there are those who still bring something new to storytelling. For every one like that, there's a thousand who choke on their arrogant pretension.But while the missing girl mystery gives form to the story of Ronald Gibb, it only concludes with a twist ending that fails the most basic test of such things. The second most basic test is that it make sense and not invalidate what the audience has seen. The most basic test of a twist, however, is that it changes the audience's perception of events. They think the story was one way, then the twist shows them it was another way. Well, these filmmakers could have eliminated their twist or taken it in a completely different direction and it wouldn't have changed much at all about the story of Ronald Gibb. Maybe they're doing something meta with a twist that isn't really a twist and I didn't get it, but I don't think so.Tim Daly is good, Paula Devicq is excellent and both writer Adam Targum and director David Ostry demonstrate a real appreciation and insight toward Ron and his circumstances. Their characters have internal life that usually doesn't conform to the faces they show the world or what they convince themselves they see in the mirror.The Good Student is worth watching, especially if you're not being completely honest with yourself about your own life. If you come across it, give it a look.

Did anyone else think he Gibbs, did it for the money? I thought it was a con he pulled to be able to get the money and that really was where he got all the money in his box. Hes done it before? Where do you think he kept her? It looked like a janitors closet in the school or bowling alley. It never explained why the boyfriend went to pick it but he would have had to be in on it? I thought the wife dying and him getting insurance was a story to tell the cops but he really got the money from doing this before. He gets the ransom and takes off. He took her with all intentions of letting her go after the father pays a ransom that he can collect. When the father doesn't offer a reward he does thinking the father will put up more money that he can collect? That was my feeling.

let's get the good stuff out of the way first...the story line and the writing both are amazing... in the hands of a more capable director, this movie could've been an excellent movie.the story has all the elements that could attract a viewer, from the good building of the problem, the attraction, the deliberate misguiding to the twists at the end. (but no comedy whatsoever)..but it was really really really bad directed, and you can notice that from the very first shot of the film. a summer trained director trying his luck, and thinking that having a star like Hayden Panettiere can sell the movie - which i don't know why she agreed to do the movie in the first place?? being that she's totally in her prime...there are some characters in the movie that were in it only for the purpose of the felling of an empty 5 minutes or something, there are characters that appeared in the beginning of the movie, and it was set in my mind that this character will play an important rule in the story line, but suddenly i didn't see that character again!!!!overall, it was below medium, and really what a sham, it could've been something really good.my vote is 3 out of 10