OT: Our Town

A whole world can be fit into 76 minutes, and that's what the splendid documentary OT: our town manages to do.

At the end, when they have created a vibrant new theater program for their school, their sense of triumph is infectious. " 'Our Town' Is Ghetto!" one of them exults. Thornton Wilder, wherever he is, would understand and take it as a compliment.

Kennedy takes pains to illuminate aspects and insights that buck cliché.

Kennedy documents their efforts with skill and compassion, almost entirely avoiding the pitfalls of sentimentality and victimology. He and his likable "cast" deserve a standing ovation.

It's the most obvious point that actually rings truest: that Wilder's sketchy vision of life, love, and death is as funny and moving as it ever was.

At opening night, with every seat in the cafeteria filled, you realize that the students have not only carved out a fledgling drama department in this sports-mad place, they’ve updated Grover’s Corners to Compton.

Seems to exist solely to drive this observation home in the most heavy-handed way.