Learning Curve

John Davies plays a substitute teacher named Walmsley to a group of no-good loser teens who insult him at every turn and even physically assault him in the hallways. So Walmsley does what any of us would do: He cleverly kidnaps the teens, drops them in an electrified pen -- naked -- on a remote piece of property, and begins their re-education in earnest, tough-love style.

Of course they fight him -- demanding, oh, their clothes... water... and such. But slowly they come to accept their imprisonment, and as they learn -- literature, civics, Spanish -- they earn those privileges back. Over the course of the next hour, the teens turn from uncouth thugs into model students, leaving you to ponder some seriously heavy questions about whether extreme punishment and high-stress intervention is an appropriate means to an end. There's no easy answer provided by Learning Curve, but the lesson is nonetheless an enthralling exercise.

The unfortunate ending is telegraphed from a mile away -- and the first act is terribly uninspiring -- but don't let that rob you from checking out one of the most deliciously perverse and twisted independents to hit DVD this year. You'll never listen to "Hey Mickey!" the same way again.

Aka Detention.