Very Cool!!!

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It gets a little lost and repetitive in the middle, but this uplifting documentary of inner-city kids competing for scholarships to culinary colleges packs an emotional wallop, and manages to be truly inspiring without being sappy. It's also full of wonderful characters, starting with their teacher, a sort of drill sergeant with a heart. This is the kind of teacher every kid needs – one who isn't afraid to be tough as nails, but underneath is flowing over with love for 'her kids'. She's quirky, odd, unpredictable, and you can see that her students adore her. The students too are a fascinating bunch, from the huge football player who really puts his all into his cooking, to the recent immigrant from a poverty stricken village in Africa who sees America as a land of opportunity in a way very few of us born here can. A lovely film with a sense of humor and a great message.

I just loved this film! To watch them all grow together within one year and just become outstanding chefs is just a pleasant sight! I'm a culinary enthusiast and to watch Ms. Stephenson in action with those students just says that she's all about her job.Ms. Fatoumata just made me smile the entire way through. Her passion about education and strive to continue on with her life despite her father's opinion just shows that she's a strong woman of integrity.Ms. Erica's love for her family, more so her little sister, just puts into perspective that she will continue to fight for her beloved ones and her future.Last, but certainly not least, Mr. Tyree. This All-Star High School football player and cheerleader has gone to great heights. For him to put forth his maximum effort into everything he has done without the fear of his peers, has touched me tremendously. Certainly not one to fool with on the field nor in the kitchen, he has marked a spot for his success.I know Chef/Sergeant Wilma Stephenson and her crew has made this film in 2007 and its now 2011, I wonder how each of you are doing. Once again, the film was amazing. And hope to see you all back on the big screen in the upcoming years.God Bless you all and be safe.

Pressure Cooker was charming, heartwarming, funny, sad, deeply moving and joyous.I was clapping and crying (tears of joy)for the students and their wonderful teacher at the and of the movie. I just loved this film. I feel like these kids are in my heart now and I want all the best for them always. I would love to know what happens to the group as they head off to college and beyond.The strength and determination of these kids was inspiring to me. The strength and determination of their teacher was just as inspiring. I would watch it again and I will definitely recommend this film. Thumbs WAY up!

I had the pleasure of viewing "Pressure Cooker" at the True/False Film Festival in Columbia, Mo. My first thought was that the culinary angle of the film would provide its uniqueness, or it's own flavor if you will, but cooking is merely the vehicle for a human drama about students and their passionate teacher simply trying to create an opportunistic future.The most appealing part of the film is the unique sense of humor provided by its characters. What really makes for a great documentary is an enigmatic or totally original character(s). Creators Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker find that character in Wilma, an outspoken and emotional lady with an in-your-face attitude but a heart of gold filled with nothing but love for her students. The humor she adds is what draws you into the film, developing a first impression that you are bound to regret making one the film ends and you see her for who she truly is.The directors also found three amazing students with compelling stories to focus on: the cheerleader who lives with her dad and is responsible for her blind sister, the football star who is the man of his household and an African immigrant who wants nothing more than to succeed on her own in a new country. At first you feel disappointed that the film is not more focused on the cooking, but as you get to know these students, who take to the camera with such ease, really opening themselves up, you become so invested in them that it's what happens to them that matters most.This film easily could have easily been just about the competition of trying to get scholarships, relying on that suspense alone as a hinge, but the directors turn it into something much different and much more meaningful. They strive instead to show a complete picture of the lives of these students while showing how cooking fits in. The choice creates sort of a lack of clear narrative structure at the beginning, hopping from one character-revealing scene to the next, but once the scholarship competition nears, everything falls logically into place and the film delivers emotionally at the end."Pressure Cooker" is a really easy doc to watch, full of humor and most importantly those compelling characters with compelling stories. Grausman and Becker appear to have only needed to be there with cameras to get a great film, but to their credit, it's well-edited, picking great moments to let their story shine.