Our verdict: two stars
If one did not know this tale of a boys' choir was going to be Whiplash with warbling, or Glee with gargling, then the presence of Artie (Kevin McHale) from the Channel Four programme is something of a Sherlock-sized clue.
But then predictability is something of a theme running through Francois Girard's drama
More surprising is the presence of Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates and Eddie Izzard in what is essentially a television movie singing above its station.
Stet (Garrett Wareing) is a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who, by virtue of his voice, finds himself at an exclusive east coast school where singing is all. Teaching at the school are Hoffman and Izzard, with Bates providing admin backup and some good old fashioned gee-ing up when required.
The school wants to go to the big concert in New York City, but the choir has never made the grade. Can bad boy Stet come good in time?
You can doubtless guess the rest from there, which just leaves the performances and the singing as attractions. The performances, as one would expect from Hoffman and co, are first rate, and Wareing does well as the troubled boy soprano.
Depending on one's tolerance for small boys hitting high notes, the singing will either sound like angels ascending or a cat descending a blackboard.
Just another inspirational teacher tale, then, but one that could and should have been so much more.
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