Pressure Cooker

NR	Rottentomatoes.com Rating:89%	2009
Mild language	Picky Flicks Quote: "A heart-grabbing...work that needs no embellishment." -Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer	RUNTIME: 1 hr. 39 min.
Visit:www.screenit.com for complete details		Movie Mood:Scrumptious

Pressure Cooker is a documentary that engages the mind and the heart from almost its opening frame, not because of its explosive subject matter or riveting action, but because of the authenticity of its subjects. Without that authenticity, a documentary about underprivileged inner city high-schoolers learning to cook might have been a real snoozer. But with culinary arts instructor, Wilma Stephenson, on the screen, things are anything but dull.

Stephenson is the "cooking teacher" at Philadelphia's Frankford High School, and she is a firecracker with a short fuse. Full of energy and crackle, she brooks no rebellion or disrespect, throwing kids out of her classroom with imperious contempt. But all of her gruff manners can do nothing to hide the fact that she cares deeply about what happens to her students. She might sound like a bully, but the truth is that she can't stand to see her kids fail. She knows full well just how hard her students' lives are, and she is not about to settle for anything less than perfection in her kitchen, a standard which she hopes to pass onto her pupils so that they can have some chance of escaping their often troubled home lives.

Although Stephenson has around thirteen students in her class, the film wisely chooses to narrow its focus to three individuals: an overachiever who juggles her homework with caring for her legally blind younger sister, an emigrant from Africa, and a soft-spoken giant of an all-state football player. These two girls and one boy seem to embody what the program represents for all who enter and take it seriously: dedication, sacrifice, hard work, and a whole lot of hope.

Each character has a reason to want to escape his or her circumstances, and the lure of culinary class is that if one applies oneself, then one receives in return a chance at a scholarship to a prestigious cooking school, a veritable golden ticket to a brand new life. Of course, with Stephenson as queen of the kitchen, self-application is hardly an option. Either you peel potatoes as if your very life depended on it, or you're out.

As the film follows Stephenson's crew through the various stages of competitions and their preparations for them, we catch glimpses into the everyday difficulties that these young men and women face. They have a great many pots boiling, if you'll pardon the pun, and hardly any help keeping the fires burning. Still, these kids are no complainers. They seem resigned to the fact that life is difficult but not to the assumption that their circumstances can never change.

As the film progresses, our respect for both the students and their teacher grows as the students endure scathing criticism from Stephenson and respond with comments like, "I've never met anyone like her. And I love her." Despite the tirades, it's easy to understand their loyalty as we watch Stephenson stomp into the room and measure the football player for the white dress shirt he doesn't own, then stomp right back out to go buy it for him with her own money. Likewise, she takes the girls shopping for prom dresses and spends her free time helping them to prepare baked goods as fundraising fodder for their competitions.

When the film culminates in a fancy awards dinner, with the young cooks dressed in their absolute finest (Ms. Stephenson would tolerate no less) to accept their awards with shining eyes, it's no surprise that Frankford's students receive more accolades and scholarships than any of the other schools. And it's impossible not to smile as at least two of our three principles (the two neediest) are granted their hearts' desires and receive full scholarships to culinary school.

Pressure Cooker is an unabashedly inspirational story that wears its sentimentality proudly on its white chef smock. And yet it is never schmaltzy or emotionally manipulative. Instead, it strives to do just what its subjects do: arrange simple, sometimes even humble, ingredients into a classy, appealing presentation that will please its audience's emotional and mental palettes. All I have to say is, "Yum!"

Until next Wednesday, stay picky! Your mind will thank you later.