The Emperor's Club

The Emperor's Club

2002 "In everyone's life there's that one person who makes all the difference."
The Emperor's Club
The Emperor's Club

The Emperor's Club

6.9 | 1h48m | PG-13 | en | Drama

William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to a close student-teacher relationship, but results in a life lesson for Hundert that will still haunt him a quarter of a century later.

View More
AD

WATCH FREEFOR 30 DAYS

All Prime Video
Cancel anytime

Watch Now
6.9 | 1h48m | PG-13 | en | Drama | More Info
Released: November. 22,2002 | Released Producted By: Universal Pictures , Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

William Hundert is a passionate and principled Classics professor who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken and inexorably altered when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. What begins as a fierce battle of wills gives way to a close student-teacher relationship, but results in a life lesson for Hundert that will still haunt him a quarter of a century later.

...... View More
Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Cast

Kevin Kline , Emile Hirsch , Embeth Davidtz

Director

Dennis Bradford

Producted By

Universal Pictures ,

AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.

Watch Now

Trailers & Images

Reviews

SnoopyStyle William Hundert (Kevin Kline) is a retired after 34 years of teaching. He is at a resort attending a dinner in his honor. He recalls his time at the prestigious boys school Saint Benedict's Academy. It's early 1970s. His class is a bunch of fresh face respectful kids until the arrival of the opinionated rebellious Senator's son Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch). There is a competition in the school tradition called Mr. Julius Caesar. Sedgewick starts to corrupt his fellow classmates including Martin Blythe (Paul Dano), Louis Masoudi (Jesse Eisenberg) and Deepak Mehta. Sedgewick's father is a cold man and Hundert starts to get through to him. Hundert massages Sedgewick's grade to get him into the top three for the Julius Casesar competition. Hundert figures out that Sedgewick is cheating and ensures that he would lose. They dare each other but they both keep it a secret. Sedgewick returns to his pranking slacker ways and a C average. Twenty five years later, Sedgewick organizes a rematch while offering a large donation.This is a different take on the sainted teacher movie. Hundert is not always right and does some morally ambiguous things. His reasoning is commendable. The lesson is brilliantly compelling. He is a flawed character struggling in a flawed world with a flawed student. It's kind of a reverse "Mr. Holland's Opus" and there are no tears in this one. Holland thinks himself a failure but his students show him his success. Hundert thinks himself a solid teacher but is challenged by the one that got away.
Python Hyena The Emperor's Club (2002): Dir: Michael Hoffman / Cast: Kevin Kline, Steven Culp, Patrick Dempsey, Embeth Davidtz, Emile Hirsch: Standard drama representing an all male school. Kevin Kline plays a professor of 34 years who reflects challenges he faced when one student pushed the limits. He takes great pride in educating students but the son of an authority figure disrupts class. Plot throws in a curve ball just when we believe can predict the outcome. Familiar plot observantly directed by Michael Hoffman who previously made the dazzlingly underrated A Midsummer Nights Dream. Kline brings intellect and a sense of passion but he pretty much carries the film. Steven Culp play the basic stereotype who appears only when convenient for the plot. Patrick Dempsey is hardly seen yet receives a strong billing in the credits. Embeth Davidtz plays a teacher but her footage is hardly necessary. She is basically there as a potential romantic subplot for Kline who should decline since he is the only one elevated above the familiar grounds here. The students are a mix bag of stereotypes that recycle from other similar films. Well made film with great location shots but for a superior film on similar grounds, I would recommend Mr. Holland's Opus. Strong message of influence and reflection that can haunt us and cause question in our character. Score: 6 ½ / 10
Maddyclassicfilms Kevin Kline is great as Mr William Hundert the History teacher at St Benedicts boys school in the mid 1970s. The film tells how he tries to help a new pupil Sedgewick Bell(Emile Hirsch)get used to the school life and help him improve his grades in class he messes around a lot and Hundert makes it his mission almost to help him change.However Mr Hundert focuses on Sedgewick and sort of neglects the other students.The ending is very moving as in the present day Hundert is invited to the older Sedgewick Bells country club to meet up with Bell and his other former students and learns a sad truth about Bell and finds out if he has changed or not.The scenes between Bell and Hundert are good but I love the scenes at the end with him and all the other students. This film doesn't bring anything new to the teacher student genre but is a well made and enjoyable film about history,success and failure.
jmorris-8 This movie is not one of the better titles that Kevin Kline has been a part of during his illustrious career. Kevin Kline has consistently shown his audience his deftness and his uncanny ability to get inside of a character and make it his own. The Emperor's Club is an okay movie that Kevin Kline keeps from going down the drain. One of the key factors in rating a movie or a performance to me is, what happens when the main character is off camera? Does the movie still move along? Am I eager to see the character again? Watch this movie with that in mind. Watch a fish called Wanda the same way. Or watch Wild Wild West. Kevin Kline simply shines through in every possible way.