What's great about this movie is that it provokes serious thought and examination of prejudices and habitual reactions that may not be the truest response to a particular situation.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOLLOW.
What bothers me most about this movie is that the teacher's inappropriate behavior toward the student is so much overshadowed by subsequent events - the overreaction of the townspeople and the uncovering of much worse abuse from another adult - that the teacher, in the end, comes out looking like a martyr and a hero. He was not a hero, and if he was a martyr it was only to his own egoism and delusional behavior.
His relationship with the boy was inappropriate from the very beginning - he had an unhealthy obsession, a possessiveness, and a sense of entitlement to interfere in the boy's private life that no teacher ought to have for any student, of any sex. Behavior like that toward a child - particularly a child who was not his own - is always and unequivocally inappropriate and inherently abusive. When the abuser is a teacher, with all the emotional and spiritual power any teacher has over any student, particularly a child, the abuse is especially inexcusable.
This movie masks the teacher's emotionally abusive behavior behind the other adult's physical abuse, so that he comes out smelling like a rose in contrast. The other abuser at least admitted the abuse when confronted; the teacher continued to insist - and probably believe - that he had done nothing wrong. That is outrageous.
END OF SPOILERS
Cheyenne Jackson gives an exceptionally strong, intelligent performance as the teacher's boyfriend; the other actors vary from very good (Julia Ormond as the lawyer) to reliable (Bill Sage as the mom's boyfriend, and most of the other actors) to barely competent (Chris Bert as the kid).
POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOLLOW.
What bothers me most about this movie is that the teacher's inappropriate behavior toward the student is so much overshadowed by subsequent events - the overreaction of the townspeople and the uncovering of much worse abuse from another adult - that the teacher, in the end, comes out looking like a martyr and a hero. He was not a hero, and if he was a martyr it was only to his own egoism and delusional behavior.
His relationship with the boy was inappropriate from the very beginning - he had an unhealthy obsession, a possessiveness, and a sense of entitlement to interfere in the boy's private life that no teacher ought to have for any student, of any sex. Behavior like that toward a child - particularly a child who was not his own - is always and unequivocally inappropriate and inherently abusive. When the abuser is a teacher, with all the emotional and spiritual power any teacher has over any student, particularly a child, the abuse is especially inexcusable.
This movie masks the teacher's emotionally abusive behavior behind the other adult's physical abuse, so that he comes out smelling like a rose in contrast. The other abuser at least admitted the abuse when confronted; the teacher continued to insist - and probably believe - that he had done nothing wrong. That is outrageous.
END OF SPOILERS
Cheyenne Jackson gives an exceptionally strong, intelligent performance as the teacher's boyfriend; the other actors vary from very good (Julia Ormond as the lawyer) to reliable (Bill Sage as the mom's boyfriend, and most of the other actors) to barely competent (Chris Bert as the kid).