Waiting for Superman

PG

Released Sep 24, 2010

1 hr. 42 min.

Documentary

List

89%

123 Reviews

Tomatometer

84%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

This film by director Davis Guggenheim investigates the public school system in the United States, and uncovers the many ways in which education in America has declined. Rather than relying largely on statistics and expert opinions, Guggenheim focuses on five students -- Anthony, Bianca, Daisy, Emily and Francisco -- portraying their own individual struggles and triumphs within problem-plagued academic settings where there are no easy solutions to the myriad issues that affect them.

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Critics Consensus

Gripping, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful, Waiting for Superman is an impassioned indictment of the American school system from An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim.

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Audience Member

when you get down to it it really sinks in our American education system is broken but it's never too late to completely save it all the interviews and statistics may seem like nothing but it really strikes right into you me, I couldn't believe the number of people who get shunned out b/c of the lack of the quality of schools most people rarely get that lucky to send their children to top-quality learning facilities alot of it makes sense once you thoroughly analyze everything it's a brilliant, retrospective documentary covering nervewracking topics about parents and childrens' desires to be the best at learning it's a little too long but 'Waiting for Superman' acheives what it does at taking a critical, serious sit-down the kids are our future and the founders of what makes us the best when it comes to education

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/17/24

Full Review

Chicken man D

i hat thi s movie super man lame, batman solos

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

07/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It really makes me sad to see bad teachers get rewarded the same as good teachers. A little dated but still relevant.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

forrest h

It will challenge you, and make you ask questions. Like any great documentary, it will start a conversation.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

O.K., finally Waiting for Superman; my teacher assigned this documentary so we could discuss it. The way I watch this movie is have it play in the background while I play iphone games or have it play in the background while I do important shit. The documentary was o.k. The message was, our public-school system is fucked, and we got to fix it. Like, do you need a couple of hours to send that message. I think like a 15-30 minute infomercial would've done the job. The documentary wasn't anything special. Just a basic semi-boring documentary. This is the information, here you go. So, the movie starts out with this black guy talking about Superman. He's watching Superman and his mom fucking tells him Superman doesn't exist. He's fucking devastated, and has a great fear of who is going to help him in time of need. He grows up, sees how fucked up the school system is, and he is waiting for superman to save the public-school system. In that process, he becomes superman because the real superman is never coming. Shit in one hand and hope in the other and see which one fills up faster. So, he knows what's wrong with the school system, and he tries to go fix it. But at every turn, it is unfixable and runs into a dead end every time. The school system is inherently flawed and designed not to be fixed. We are all kind of fucked. It's like, the system is so ingrained, like 10 miles of roots underneath the ground. To fix the problem, you got to uproot all those 10 miles of roots underneath the ground, which is difficult and near impossible. Meanwhile, our kids are eating shit and becoming more stupider, while China beats the shit out of us with their army of anti-social nerds. To be honest, was kind of a depressing video that makes you think you can't win and makes you just want to give up even before you start to try. The day of the class we got into groups. My group consisted of 3 other dudes, unlucky. One of the guys asked, "Hey, did any of you really watch the movie?" I like how he added the word really. Turns out I was the only motherfucker who actually watched the movie. So, I'm sitting there explaining what the fucking movie was about. Then I preceded to basically carry my group and do the mini-group project, semi-bullshitly. Whatever, you use what you got and run with it. Funny thing was, I'm pretty sure about 95% of the class didn't watch the movie either based on their bullshit presentations. Don't bullshit a bullshitter. pokergladiator.wordpress.com

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Waiting for 'Superman' Directed By: Davis Guggenheim Starring: The Black Family, Geoffrey Canada and The Esparza Family Plot: Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim reminds us that education "statistics" have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of WAITING FOR SUPERMAN. As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying "drop-out factories" and "academic sinkholes," methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems. Review: This Documentary is great. It shows how our public school is failing and shows possible ways to fix it but also says that there may be no chance without the current system being changed. I feel this movie is a great watch makes you really think what could have been if your school did a better job preparing you. It also makes you really think what you'd do and what you should so. Rating: 7/10 Recommendation: Rent it is worth seeing. Available on Netflix.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

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Davis Guggenheim

Director

Charles Adam

Actor

Jonathan Alter

Actor

Robert Balfanz

Actor

Harriet Ball

Actor

Steve Barr

Actor

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Jim Schembri

The Age (Australia)

It's possible that one of the reasons why the film wasn't nominated for a best-documentary Oscar was because it was too horrifying.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 31, 2011

Full Review

Sukhdev Sandhu

Daily Telegraph (UK)

In the end, this is scattergun film-making, well-intentioned but sloppy, sometimes deliberately evasive. If this documentary were an exam essay, I'd fail it.

Rated: 2/5

Nov 29, 2010

Full Review

Philip French

Guardian

A hectoring, simplistic affair that has nothing of value to contribute to the British debate.

Nov 29, 2010

Full Review

Michael Clark

Epoch Times

The people we trust with our children’s education have no intention of doing anything different. Unionized teachers work within a system where merit and achievement are marginalized, and the loss of employment because of poor performance is impossible.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jan 10, 2024

Full Review

Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

The cracks and deficiencies of the American public school system are revealed and out on display in a very strong way.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 8, 2022

Full Review

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

For all the solid information and convincing arguments presented throughout the run time, it's the genuine emotional connection to those families that make the film so powerful.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 1, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

This film by director Davis Guggenheim investigates the public school system in the United States, and uncovers the many ways in which education in America has declined. Rather than relying largely on statistics and expert opinions, Guggenheim focuses on five students -- Anthony, Bianca, Daisy, Emily and Francisco -- portraying their own individual struggles and triumphs within problem-plagued academic settings where there are no easy solutions to the myriad issues that affect them.

Director: Davis Guggenheim
Executive Producer: Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann
Screenwriter: Davis Guggenheim, Billy Kimball
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Electric Kinney
Rating: PG (Some Thematic Material|Mild Language|Incidental Smoking)
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 24, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 2, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $6.4M

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