Pressure Cooker

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Pressure Cooker

2008

1h 39m

Documentary

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

92%

Tomatometer

25 Reviews

81%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

High school culinary arts students work all year to master their teacher's lessons, and compete in a cooking competition at the end of the year to earn a scholarship.

Wesley Morris

Boston Globe

09/09/2010

3/4

The movie's sense of inspiration is realistic. It never implies a future of glamour, only hard-won success.

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David Lewis

San Francisco Chronicle

08/21/2009

3/4

An earnest crowd-pleaser that could have used an extra helping of dramatic tension -- but it succeeds by placing us in an interesting world with characters who are impossible not to root for.

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Cliff Doerksen

Chicago Reader

08/20/2009

Wilma Stephenson...definitely deserves a subtler cinematic testament than this lazily inspirational documentary.

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Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

11/13/2019

Receiving a special commendation for Best Documentary at LAFF, I knew it was only a matter of time before things would get cooking for this little gem.

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Brian Costello

Common Sense Media

05/31/2012

5/5

Inspiring cooking-themed docu is great for teens.

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Peter Keough

Boston Phoenix

09/02/2010

3/4

By the end, you won't need to slice onions to get the tear ducts working.

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email m

01/07/2023

An entirely different slant on a cooking show! Takes you DEEP into the backstabbing, gossip and politics in order to win by each contestant. Way too much talking in the show! On and on and on the contestants went to gloat over themselves and talk bad about their fellow chefs on the show. Needed more cooking and less backstabbing. But having said that, it clearly showed how humans treat each other. A good lesson on human nature and how NOT to be. I was glad though, of who won. He was nice.

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09/06/2018

Inspiring stories and inspiring teacher

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02/19/2015

The strength and determination of these kids was inspiring to me. The strength and determination of their teacher was just as inspiring. I would watch it again and I will definitely recommend this film!"Pressure Cooker" is a really easy doc to watch, full of humor and most importantly those compelling characters with compelling stories. Grausman and Becker appear to have only needed to be there with cameras to get a great film, but to their credit, it's well-edited, picking great moments to let their story shine.

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06/28/2014

Interesting documentary.

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01/03/2014

A bit like the classic documentary Hoop Dreams but with an imaginatively different setting. Just as good, and not half as long.

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06/29/2013

Awesome doc. Extremely heartfelt. Ms. Wilma Stephenson is truly an angel.

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Mark Becker

Director

Jennifer Grausman

Director

Jennifer Grausman

Producer

Jeff Skoll

Executive Producer

Diane Weyermann

Executive Producer

Mark Becker

Cinematographer

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Synopsis

High school culinary arts students work all year to master their teacher's lessons, and compete in a cooking competition at the end of the year to earn a scholarship.

Director: Mark Becker, Jennifer Grausman
Producer: Jennifer Grausman
Production Co: Participant Media
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 5, 2016
Runtime: 1h 39m

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