SummaryIn a country where 58% of African American 4th graders are functionally illiterate, The Lottery uncovers the failures of the traditional public school system and reveals that hundreds of thousands of parents attempt to flee the system every year. The Lottery follows four of these families from Harlem and the Bronx who have entered their children ... Read More
Directed By:Madeleine Sackler
The Lottery
Metascore
Generally Favorable
72
User score
Universal Acclaim
8.5
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
56% Positive
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
33% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
11% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
100
The documentary shows the stranglehold that the teachers union has on politicians, particularly Democratic politicians. The arrogance and ignorance of some of these politicians is galling.
80
As Madeleine Sackler's absorbing, often tender documentary The Lottery shows, when it comes to the world of charter education, no seemingly good deed may go unpunished -- or at least undercut.
80
Every parent in New York should see this movie and then ask why, when solutions exist, our woefully broken school system has yet to be fixed.
80
Ignoring critical issues like financial transparency, Ms. Sackler sells her viewpoint with four admirable, striving families, each of whose tots could charm the fleas off a junkyard dog.
60
An electrifying community meeting finds Harlem Success president Eva Moskowitz both vilified and heralded as "our Obama" by local parents, as the unions depend on such poorly understood class and neighborhood tensions to maintain the status quo.
50
The film has no ready answers, although it becomes abundantly clear that both those for and against charter schools are more concerned with covering their own asses than with helping students get a quality education.
30
Advocacy to the point of propaganda.
User score
Universal Acclaim
100% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Nov 29, 2010
8
This already Oscar contender documentary hits hard on the public/charter education problems of Harlem. Combining facts and parents' emotions, Madeleine Sackler was able to pull **** documentary about our childrens' future. At times the feature becomes bias and unbalanced, but The Lottery was good enough for the Oscar semifinalist list.
Production Company:
- Great Curve Films
Release Date:Jun 11, 2010
Duration:1 h 21 m
Tagline:You could win an education
Awards
Black Reel Awards
• 1 Nomination
