The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

There many ways to classify films. One way is to divide them into films which will appeal to a broad audience (such as the Indiana Jones series), as opposed to "smaller" films which will appeal to a niche audience. This film is one of the latter. But as we so often see, it is often the niche films which garner little attention in which true greatness rests.This film is not about crashing cars or chases or murder or sex. It's about character.And make no mistake, Kevin Kline's measured performance here is about character, as well. I cannot imagine another actor who would have been so perfect in this role. Kline plays a sort of Mr. Chips at a prep school who inspires his students even while teaching about the Roman Empire, who realizes late in life that he has also failed a couple of his students and attempts to make amends...in one case successfully, in the other case not.Emile Hirsch is excellent in this film, albeit as a young man who become a cheat...and remains so in his adult life. And although the part is small, I rater liked the sensitive performance of Steven Culp, who also played one of Bree's husbands on "Desperate Housewives". In fact, it's difficult to fault any of the performances in this film. Superbly directed by Michael Hoffman.Perhaps this film connects with me because I was a teacher and school administrator. But this film gets a rare "8" from me.

The Emperor's club was looking to find a way through history for elaborating the History as a word, history makers, historians, and the people that were/are trying to make a tight tie between history makers in all periods of history. As a matter of fact the film is like a small mirror in front of a wide and unlimited mirror so called History that reflects the role and effects of some role players who accidentally or intentionally were there. Their words, families, books, notebooks, friends and even their loves are play a role between these mirrors and you cannot ignore any beams of light that is reflected from. It already begins with portraying the life of an old teacher who has devoted his life to teach the tale of famous and infamous people, their victories and failures and their lifestyle. You are bombarded with his acceptable characters like punctuality, prestige, powerful speaking and kindness. He is not the only subject of this play; there are a plenty of them with whom you will get familiar during the time of watching and be careful maybe you are among them and sometimes in the future your offspring will watch your movie and will consider your destiny as a lesson to be learned. Some of the players are from the past and we can only see their pictures and statues or read /hear something about them, but many are performing in real world and their efforts and studies may have tremendous results in the future. In other words you are expected to judge about the past, now and future. Fortunately the director does not leave you alone and you are provided with many clues and tools to perform a great job, just like other players between the mirrors! The copter which provides a wide view in the beginning and at the end is among them and acts like a time machine to go through the epochs and give you a symbolic wing to fly between them. You are also the passenger of this machine and finally it is you that can judge this story and make a conclusion. Admittedly there will be different conclusions for the same story but you should keep in mind that there was only one story and it can remain in the memory of history forever. There are no exception for human being in the issue of love history so like other stories; there should be a love story but not as clear as a romance movie. Therefore you will sense an undercover love between the learned teacher and a married woman to find out the unfair manner of life and its heartache that has been told in many historical stories before. Among all disciplinary scenes this one challenges the audiences' mind in a different way. Can he make an unexpected change in the life by showing his real love to her? But finally we understand the fact that it is not him who did it but the passing river of life make this change happened that is another role of history in the film. To sum up I got two meaningful lessons from this movie that is: There are not lots of Emperors in the world but there is only one and he has a club that called "Emperor's club". All of us are a member of this club and the member's biographies and their performances are recorded in a big book that called History so try to be a good and active member not a neuter. You have many opportunities in your life. They can succeed or fail. No matter what will happen to them. Do your best to make a better life. Your victories will acknowledge and your failures will avoid.

Many of us (myself included) are drawn to stories of timeless truths - in fact, it is the very basis for entire theories of historical interpretation and educational instructional pedagogy. The problem is, the more we are educated as to how the vast majority of people actually learn, the "classic" interpretation is shown to be critically flawed.Although Kevin Kline is indeed stellar in this film, and points are scored for the overarching post-9/11 discussion regarding virtue and its tempering of the blind seeking of ambition and power, the beat-me-over-the-head-with-the-symbolism-bat mentality of the movie and the flawed premise of the timeless beauty of a classical approach to instructional pedagogy kills the film (for me) on a critical basis, and becomes nothing more than manipulative dreck disguised as intellectual gold.Contention One: You don't have to beat me with a bat. I get it. The senator (and then his son) who loves cigars, civil-war era guns, ordering his secretaries around, and generally abusing the power of his high office is bad because his is a naked, unadulterated ambition. He gets what he wants, but at what cost? This is repeated over and over and over again in the film. I get it. Say it once, show me the American flag fluttering at the end, and let's have a discussion about it. Drag it out, show me a disappointed child who has overheard a conversation in the bathroom, and mix in some classical references to the Greeks, Romans, and paths we should walk on, and I'm done with it.The problem? Well, we simply can't ignore the fact that Julius Caesar (along with many of the other 'greats' mentioned so reverently in the film) acted mainly out of... yep... naked, unadulterated ambition. And people will say "Yes, but what about his great contributions?" Well, many evil, evil people (Hitler, for example) made contributions, too. The inspiration for America's interstate highway system (if you can even consider that a great contribution given the headaches it has caused) was inspired by the ruthless efficiency of Nazi Germany. This is just an example, but history is not so black and white - and even Socrates and Plato didn't have the market cornered on selfless sacrifice.Contention Two: People don't learn the way Mr. H. teaches. 10% of the people might learn very well through rote memorization and drill-and-test style instructional pedagogy. This is the "classic" way of learning, right? Many of us learned to play this game. Unfortunately, what happens with the other 90% of society who aren't attending St. Benedict's? Part of us is forced to agree with young Mr. Bell when he says: "Who gives a s...?"As someone who loves and reads about the classics (and reads voraciously on a number of subjects), I will state here and now that only a small fraction of the population can walk the path Mr. H. so steadfastly praises. I can teach about honesty, virtue, and right thinking and living without even touching Socrates, Plato, or the whole of Western Civilization for that matter. Confucius and Lao Tse might want to get in on the discussion, as well. So believe me that while I sympathize with the overarching message, I am horrified by the fact that we are encouraging people to watch this film and say: "Yes, that's how all children should be educated in America, by golly! We have to get back to the basics!"All of our emerging knowledge of teaching and learning styles and pedagogically-sound instructional practices SCREAMS against the rows of desks, endless rote memorization, quiz- show style assessments, and class rankings that for the vast majority of the population NO LONGER HOLD A USEFUL PURPOSE.On the surface, this is a calm, beautiful film that should inspire us to go back to the great works and read them. Underneath, however, are critical flaws that doom the enterprise and should make us shiver to the core of our being for being drawn into the charade in the first place.

Loved this movie. The best I've seen in a long, long time. The message is that without intellectual honesty, we have and are nothing. Character is our foundation and our salvation. Being the smartest is fun, but true emotional intelligence is a real achievement. WHY wasn't this film nominated for an Oscar? Kevin Kline is an inspiration, while Emile Hirsch is truly brilliant in a difficult role for his age group.The movie reminded me of the Breakfast Club because none of the main characters are what they seem at first glance to be. They resist stereotypes and labels because they are so obviously imperfect, and the consequences of their actions are not clear-cut, to them or to the viewer.Excellent movie. Run, don't walk to rent this DVD. I'm amazed it didn't get more press at the time.