The Emperor's Club
July 2003 Reviewed by: Anthony Di Marco Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

It is easy to stick to one’s principles in a perfect world, but in life people are forced to ride the line between right and wrong. We base our decisions not on what is effectively good for the whole, but what is necessary for our physical and mental survival. Our passions also tend to sway us. Love eradicates reason, power corrupts, and pride can compromise one’s principles.

William Hundert compromises his principles because, above all else, he strives to be a good educator. The professor’s challenge to mold a rebellious teenager turns out to be stronger than staying true to the philosophy he preaches. Hundert’s motivations are driven by pride and ego, amplified by a fascination with Sedgewick Bell’s brazen disregard for authority. Hundert has lived life steering clear of passions that may go against the grain. A love of rowing is the only means through which he is able to release frustration. And his love of a married woman leaves him struggling for words. Hundert may be a scholar of history, but he is ignorant of the rules of the present world.

There is a part of Hundert which believes that Sedgewick has potential, and he feels that helping him along will encourage the young, ignored son of a United States Senator to succeed -- even if another student like Martin Blythe, who is more deserving, is left by the wayside. There are moments during The Emperor’s Club where it’s apparent that Hundert is conflicted. There are also times when Hundert is presented with an opportunity to make the right decision, but doesn’t. It is not until Sedgewick makes a fool of him for the second time that he snaps out of his trance. It is at this time that he realizes that Sedgewick did not fail, but as an educator, Hundert himself failed his student by not staying true to his principles.

Kevin Kline’s performance as William Hundert is good but not perfect. When Hundert realizes that a student may be cheating, his reaction is both disbelief, and cool, calculated assuredness, as he figures out a way to bring down the culprit. Conversely, Kline does at times play Hundert as a little too righteous and clueless. Kline’s reaction is particularly heavy-handed when he realizes that Sedgewick has a technological advantage in answering contest questions. Kline’s pensive look, as he swings his head from back to front, is painfully overdone.

The balance of the film’s acting is merely OK and, at times, borders on laughable. Years after the initial action, as classmates and professors meet again, the exchange between them feels forced and false. Patrick Dempsey’s older version of Louis Masoudi is less mature than the younger version, while an older Deepak Mehta seems too perfect to be human.

The regal color palette throughout this film is extremely well rendered. Reds and blacks are rich and deep, while exterior shots taken around St. Benedicts periodically exhibit mesmerizing depth of field. I was surprised that a DTS mix was included on the disc. Often dialogue-driven films make do with Dolby Digital. My guess is that the filmmakers wanted to showcase James Newton Howard’s noble score. To my ear, though, there was very little to separate the Dolby Digital mix from the DTS mix. I may have heard fuller bass and slightly crisper dialogue with DTS, but nothing that made me sit up and take notice.

The features were OK, but suffered from an atmosphere of self-serving comments by the filmmakers and those professionals connected with the film. The "Making of" documentary was nothing but a half-hour of shameless self-promotion. Comments by real-life students came across as superficial and forced, while the "experts" seemed like they were plucked from a pool of "consultants for hire" rather than revered authorities in the field of ethics. Director Michael Hoffman did offer some interesting insight into the decision-making process but colored it with a little too much adulation for star Kevin Kline.

On the whole I enjoyed The Emperor’s Club for its moral ambitions and humanity, but ultimately came away wanting more shaded and subtle performances from its ensemble.

• Go Back