"A man's character is his fate," Hundert tells us in voice-over in the introduction. On the first day of class in 1972, he lectures his students, "What will your character be? How will history remember you?" The story centers on the seventy-third annual competition for the Mr. Julius Caesar award. It is in studying for and competing in the contest that the young men of St. Benedict's have their mettle tested and their true characters revealed.

The front runner before the games begin has to be Martin Blythe (Paul Dano), since his father was a previous winner. Also in the race are two hard working scholars named Deepak Mehta (Rishi Mehta) and Louis Masoudi (Jesse Eisenberg, ROGER DODGER).

Decidedly not in the race is the obnoxious new kid, Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch), the son of the senior senator from West Virginia. Bell has absolutely no plans whatsoever to study anything. His early exams come back with grades just slightly above zero since he manages to get credit only for signing his name correctly. Bell's brash independence, of course, endears him to his fellow students and makes Hundert want to devote tremendous energy to discovering the diamond beneath Bell's hard exterior.

You can probably guess most of the story's outline from this point on. Hundert tells us fairly accurately that, "This is a story without surprises." Although it does have a few, they aren't the reason to see THE EMPEROR'S CLUB. In addition to witnessing Kline's sterling piece of acting, the movie also offers a handsome tribute to the teaching profession. It reminded me of my brief times teaching at Berkeley and at Duke. I was certainly no Hundert, but I was able to experience some of his joys and frustrations. Don't be surprised if, when you see it, you start thinking about the rewards and challenges of teaching young and sometime rebellious minds.

THE EMPEROR'S CLUB runs 1:49. It is rated PG-13 for "some sexual content" but would have been more appropriately rated PG. It would be acceptable for kids around 9 and up.