The temptation to compare "The Emperor's Club" to the 1989 drama "The Dead Poets Society" is almost irresistible. However, given its focus — "Emperor" is a portrait of the beloved teacher as an institution — the film also has a lot in common with "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" and "To Sir With Love."
Not that this watchable but disjointed adaptation of Ethan Canin's acclaimed short story "The Palace Thief" can really be held to same standard as those earlier films. Despite some good performances and a laudable message, "The Emperor's Club" pales in comparison to nearly all of those, and it doesn't leave much of an impression afterward.
The most solid performance is turned in by Kevin Kline, who stars as William Hundert, the assistant headmaster at St. Benedict's, a private school circa the early 1970s. Hundert is also the school's rather stern ancient-civilization instructor. But his passion for learning has endeared him to his students — save for new arrival Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch), a U.S. senator's son who has a chip on his shoulder.
Teacher and student immediately butt heads, with the teen actually getting the best of the high-minded scholar — at first. After a warning from his father (Harris Yulin), though, Sedgewick buckles down to become one of the best students in Hundert's class. But then, something occurs that makes Hundert reconsider whether he's made a difference in Sedgewick's attitudes at all.
For the first hour, "The Emperor's Club" is a pretty good little movie, with Kline and Hirsch both giving the material some needed energy and spark. However, the final 45-minute sequence moves the character ahead 25 years, and the whole foundation crum-
bles.
It's not fair to blame the film's numerous problems entirely on director Michael Hoffman, though his pacing really seems off. It's primarily Michael Tolkin's sketchy script (nice dialogue, though) that reduces most of the characters to caricatures.
Still, fans of Kline will likely enjoy his portrayal of the principled Hundert.
"The Emperor's Club" is rated PG-13 for scattered use of crude sexual slang terms and profanity, as well as some brief nudity (glimpses of nude photos and artwork). Running time: 109 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com