If not quite in the 'Stand and Deliver' bracket, this true story of the turning-round of a ghetto classroom by an attractive ex-Marine turned teacher strikes most of the right emotional chords.

A confident leap into the mainstream by Canadian director John N Smith, after numerous well-praised but out-of-the-way films, the film gives Michelle Pfeiffer a showcase role as tough-enough LouAnne, who tames a class of smart but rebellious teenagers and turns them into achievers.

Smith's unobtrusive but persuasive direction and Pfeiffer's laid-back performance underline the futility of violence and crime in such an environment and, in a film that's upbeat without being mawkish, gets us cheering for the good guys.