Out of a legacy ranging from “Dead Poet’s Society” to “Good Will Hunting,” comes “The Emperor’s Club,” another school-oriented student/mentor film. What sets this film apart, though, is its thankful lack of Robin Williams.
In his place is the more aptly subtle Kevin Kline (“A Fish Called Wanda”) as William Hundert, a longtime teacher of ancient history and assistant headmaster at St. Benedict’s, a prominent private high school.
The film’s ad campaign prepares us for yet another film about yet another mentor changing the life of yet another student. For a while, it looks like that’s what viewers are in for.
The film begins as the present-day Hundert is preparing to be feted by former student Sedgewick Bell (Joel Gretsch, “The Legend of Bagger Vance”). Then viewers are launched via extended flashback to the mid-’70s, when Bell was a bratty adolescent — played with club-you-over-the-head excess by Emile Hirsch (“The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys”).
Hundert, of course, tries to steer the boy the right way. A meeting with Bell’s brusque and arrogant Senator father (Harris Yulin, “Training Day”) gives Hundert a deeper understanding and a closer connection to the young Bell.
Through his efforts to motivate the boy, Hundert contradicts his own firmly held ethical code to give Bell a chance to compete in the school’s thoroughly contrived “Mr. Julius Caesar” contest, in which underclass students at the all-boys school are made to don togas and answer questions about ancient Rome.
At this point, when the entire plot seems obvious and preordained, there is a reprieve. Despite many clich? elements, reality creeps back into the film, and things do not fall neatly into place. Bell does not win the contest, and we are forced to reassess the film’s simplicity.
We make our way back to the present, and the film falters a bit as the 20-odd-year span is glossed over. For good or bad, “The Emperor’s Club” is more concerned with making its point than with great storytelling.
The lesson the movie teaches is held in the present-day sequence, in which the contest is restaged with the reunited class in attendance, with Mr. Hundert again acting as proctor. As history repeats itself, Hundert must re-address his own failures — as well as his successes — as a teacher.
Kline’s performance brings life to a potentially dull, one-dimensional character. The plot meanders some, trying to introduce diverse elements to add depth to the characters, but the film is best when it sticks to its premise.
Director Michael Hoffman (“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”) works hard to make the story run smoothly. More linearity would have helped but may have added 30 or 40 minutes. His direction of young actors, however, is the most suspect element of the film.
“The Emperor’s Club” surpasses prior movies of the genre by making the fallibility of its mentor character a central concern. It is Hundert’s humanity that makes us care about his success and that of his students. He is imperfect but noble and, ultimately, honest. And it is Kline’s subtly complex characterization that makes the film successful.
Grade: B