X
  • 2009
  • PG
  • Slowhand Cinema Releasing
  • 1 h 32 m
  • 2009
  • PG
  • Slowhand Cinema Releasing
  • 1 h 32 m

Summary Paul J. Adams III landed a job as guidance counselor at Providence St. Mel, an all-black parochial school on Chicago’s notorious drug-ridden, gang-ruled West Side. A year after his arrival, Adams became principal and set an important goal: To turn Providence St. Mel into a first rank college preparatory school, and its African-American ...

Directed By: Rollin Binzer

  • 2009
  • PG
  • Slowhand Cinema Releasing
  • 1 h 32 m
  • 2009
  • PG
  • Slowhand Cinema Releasing
  • 1 h 32 m

The Providence Effect

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 10 Critic Reviews
65
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Summary Paul J. Adams III landed a job as guidance counselor at Providence St. Mel, an all-black parochial school on Chicago’s notorious drug-ridden, gang-ruled West Side. A year after his arrival, Adams became principal and set an important goal: To turn Providence St. Mel into a first rank college preparatory school, and its African-American ...

Directed By: Rollin Binzer

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 10 Critic Reviews
65
70% Positive
7 Reviews
20% Mixed
2 Reviews
10% Negative
1 Review

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 10 Critic Reviews
65
70% Positive
7 Reviews
20% Mixed
2 Reviews
10% Negative
1 Review

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
80
If anything is missing from this inspiring film, it is a deeper examination of why, given how common-sensical these approaches are, so few other schools have been able to accomplish what Providence St. Mel's has.
By Kenneth Turan FULL REVIEW
75
Impressive, although not quite the film it could have been. It asks few hard questions.
By Roger Ebert FULL REVIEW
70
Though it drags on a bit, the film is certainly good-hearted, informative and relevant. We look through the doors of the St. Mel's classrooms and we see the whirrings of a school that can help a smart West Side kid land a spot at MIT. That, at least, is something to celebrate.
FULL REVIEW
70
The film never completely shakes the feel of being more an advertisement than a documentary, but once it settles into a concrete illustration of Adams's philosophy ("You've got to believe and expect that the children can achieve"), it becomes riveting.
FULL REVIEW
63
For the film to be truer to the school’s reputation, it would have had to dig a little deeper.
By Michael Phillips FULL REVIEW
50
The Providence Effect" is flawed, but it's still a moving film.
By Peter Hartlaub FULL REVIEW
38
Adams and the school's students and teachers deserve an A-plus, although the film rates a much lower grade. It unfolds lifelessly, as Binzer parades a contingent of talking heads before the camera in what could pass for an infomercial.
By V.A. Musetto FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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Details

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Production Company Dinosaurs of the Future
Release Date Sep 25, 2009
Duration 1 h 32 m
Rating PG
Genres
Tagline Every child can be educated.
Website http://www.theprovidenceeffect.com/
View All Details

Awards

Eugene International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

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