In 2011, a new teacher, Sergio Juarez Correa (Eugenio Derbez), arrives at the poorly run Jose Urbina Lopez Elementary School in Mexico. In an environment rife with drug cartel violence, students at the school suffer from some of the worst academic scores in all of the country. Sergio surprises his class of 12 year olds by taking an unorthodox approach to teaching and encourages them to solve problems creatively.
There have been a number of films over the years about inspiring and/or unorthodox teachers, including To Sir with Love (1967), Dangerous Minds (1995) and the terrible Dead Poet’s Society (1989) so this did not feel exactly ground-breaking. However, Radical, written and directed by Christopher Zalla, can rank amongst the finest of that group. The lives of most of the kids was so desperate and, though in many ways formulaic – I really do not need to hear Carl Orff’s Gassenhauer in another film – and deliberately crowd pleasing, the story is not sugar coated. There is one particularly upsetting moment that changes the course of the rest of the film.
Derbez gives an impassioned performance, ably supported by Daniel Haddad as the head teacher and the hugely promising Jennifer Trejo as Paloma, the school’s brightest pupil.
There are hints at corruption, preventing the proper distribution of funds, adding to the school’s issues, which could have been explored more, but this is a solid, inspiring, crowd pleaser.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10