Learn Hard

Genre - Emotional and intellectual. When black teenager Sean misses the school bus, his foster dad, Tim, punches him in the gut. That’s what Sean’s world is like. Mr. Silver, a white man, tries to teach English, but is that possible if kids come from Sean’s kind of trauma? In class, when Sean needs to use the restroom, Mr. Silver asks him to wait his turn. On edge from a shitty morning, Sean isn’t patient. He interrupts and pushes buttons. Fed up, in a moment of weakness, Mr. Silver calls Sean dumb, causing the class to laugh. Sean storms out. Mr. Silver feels awful. That night, Elaine, a probation officer and Mr. Silver’s wife, tells him to give Sean a chance. Mr. Silver decides to write Sean a letter; maybe that will get through to him. The hopeful letter describes Sean’s potential and how he can work to achieve it. The letter is similar to the memo/mission statement in Jerry McGuire. It’s all the things Mr. Silver wishes he could say to kids in class, but can’t. A couple days pass. Mr. Silver struggles with class, as if the education system is against him, but still he persists. He notices Sean missing. Sean’s skipping to shoplift cough syrup, which he chugs as a way to fog his reality. In some foreshadowing, when Elaine realizes Mr. Silver used their home address as the return label on the letter, she is angry. She’s smart and realizes that there’s danger in telling a traumatized person where you live. Sean arrives home one evening and Jill, his foster mom, mentions a letter from school. When Tim reads it, it pisses him off, because everything pisses him off. Jill leaves for work. Tim and Sean fight, first with words and then with fists. Sean gets the advantage this time, leaving Tim unconscious. Sean sees the envelope and realizes it’s from Mr. Silver. He overcame Tim with violence, so maybe he can get back at his teacher too. He’s confused, angry, and looking to lash out. Sean, armed, heads for the Silvers’ rural home and takes the family hostage. He crushes their phones and ties them with duct tape. He ransacks the house. He’s there to inflict pain, yes, but he’s also a scared kid in over his head, not really sure why he’s there. Always the teacher, Mr. Silver picks up on this and is able to connect with Sean. Sean realizes he needs to unload; this is a crazy way to get therapy. Sean decides to let Elaine and Gavin go; he hurries them into the woods and warns them that if he sees police, he’ll kill Mr. Silver. Mr. Silver and Sean talk, discussing heavy issues, like education and race. Their blunt, gritty conversation is the apex of the movie, and draws on banter films such as Get on the Bus and 12 Angry Men. Most of the movie is them talking – a raw dialogue between different races, ages, and circumstances. The social commentary is meant to mesmerize.