The way reality shows about top chefs (and wannabe top chefs) have become entertainment, the path has been cleared for “Pressure Cooker,” a documentary on the subject of food preparation.
But the specifics of “Pressure Cooker” are considerably different from the trumped-up drama of reality television. Welcome to the Culinary Arts program at Philadelphia’s Frankford High School, where the majority of students are black and the teacher is a legend.
She is Wilma Stephenson, the kind of drill sergeant (complete with heart of gold) you wish every teenager would be lucky enough to be around. As sensitive to a slammed door or rumpled shirt as she is to bad food preparation, Stephenson pushes her students to achieve.
There’s a specific goal: year-end scholarships from a nonprofit organization, sometimes for full tuition at culinary schools.
That gives the movie a structure, and of course a “Spellbound”-style suspense at the end. (“Spellbound” as in the crossword puzzle documentary, not the Hitchcock picture.) By focusing on three students, filmmakers Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker provide a very human focus for the competition.
Tyree Dudley is an all-state football player who fits the classic “gentle giant” stereotype and is amazingly free of attitude.
It’s hard to pick which of the two girls profiled has the more heartbreaking story. Erica Gaither’s disrupted home life means that she provides the primary care for her younger sister, who is almost completely blind.
Fatoumata Dembele is an immigrant from Mali, who cooks African meals every day and whose father disapproves of her being too independent.
Frankford High is neither a tough inner-city free-for-all nor a place of privilege, just somewhere in between. Stephenson’s cooking class must have its washouts and trouble cases, but we don’t see much of that here, as the film focuses on the more inspirational aspects of her program.
No doubt about it: “Pressure Cooker” is inspirational. Not because at the end it depicts something magical, but because it acknowledges that hard work and discipline can have their rewards. A nice break from the usual multiplex fare.
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