Pressure Cooker (2008)

91% of critics liked it
(23 reviews)
83% of users liked it
(1,389 ratings)

Philadelphia's Frankford High School isn't exactly the kind of place one would expect to find the world's next great culinary talent, but in this documentary from filmmakers Mark Becker and Jennifer Grausman, food enthusiasts discover why that concept may not be so far fetched after all. Their lives… More Philadelphia's Frankford High School isn't exactly the kind of place one would expect to find the world's next great culinary talent, but in this documentary from filmmakers Mark Becker and Jennifer Grausman, food enthusiasts discover why that concept may not be so far fetched after all. Their lives complicated by financial woes, broken homes, and abusive pasts, three Frankford High seniors find an unlikely ally in the form of culinary arts teacher Wilma Stephenson. Stephenson's kitchen isn't a place for the faint of heart, but for those who can take the heat she's the best friend an aspiring chef could ever want. As the citywide cooking competition for scholarships to the country's top culinary art institutions draws near, these three students will be forced to set aside the usual high school distractions of school dances and football games in exchange for a once-in-a-lifetime shot at living their dreams. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 39 min.
Directed By: Jennifer Grausman, Mark Becker
Genres: Documentary, Special Interest

In Theaters: May 27, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Apr 20, 2010
Studio: Bev Pictures

Critic Reviews

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
The movie's sense of inspiration is realistic. It never implies a future of glamour, only hard-won success.
David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle
An earnest crowd-pleaser that could have used an extra helping of dramatic tension -- but it succeeds by placing us in an interesting world with characters who are impossible not to root for.
Cliff Doerksen, Chicago Reader
Wilma Stephenson...definitely deserves a subtler cinematic testament than this lazily inspirational documentary.
Jan Stuart, Washington Post
If the filmmakers do little to expand the vocabulary of the genre, they enhance our appreciation of that most undervalued sector of the American workforce, the city schoolteacher.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
A heart-grabbing, awe-inspiring work that needs no embellishment.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Pressure Cooker is both a tribute to a teacher who actually cares and kids who actually want to learn. Would that there were more people like them.
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix
By the end, you won't need to slice onions to get the tear ducts working.
Andrea Chase, Killer Movie Reviews
compelling, dramatic, and triumphant
Kam Williams, Sly Fox
A fitting tribute to a selfless role model with an big heart and an indomitable spirit. Let's face it, they don't make 'em like Wilma Stephenson anymore.
Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times
Pressure Cooker is not about pressure so much as clarity of purpose. It's about a unique teacher's way of building confidence and pride, with results that joyously speak for themselves.
Matthew Sorrento, Film Threat
I grew a deep hunger while watching Pressure Cooker, not just from the students' mouthwatering dishes, but from the fact that teacher/chef Wilma Stephenson could uniformly inspire such success.
Matt Pais, Metromix.com
These stories move and inspire as tales of youth in need cooking up opportunity from scratch.
Jennifer Merin, About.com
High school teacher Wilma Stephenson nourishes her culinary arts students in their hungry bids for better lives. An inspiration, 'Pressure Cooker' is a welcome antithesis to slice and dice.
Robert Levin, Critic's Notebook
It's convincing because of the force of Wilma Stephenson's personality and the fierce love she bestows on her culinary arts students at Philadelphia's Frankford High School.
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
At times, you wish the directors were more challenging of their premises; these graduating seniors are learning the value of precision, yes, but also, subtly, how to serve. Is that escape enough?
Wade Major, Boxoffice Magazine
Neither the filmmakers nor the students-nor, for that matter, Stephenson-are fishing for sympathy. What they really want most is to give back-to provide nourishment, literal and figurative, to those who have so generously helped nourish them.
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
An engaging, uplifting, well-edited and occasionally suspenseful documentary that leaves you hungry for more insight into the lives of the culinary arts students and their Judge Judy-like teacher.
Kam Williams, NewsBlaze
A fitting tribute to a selfless role model with an big heart and an indomitable spirit. Let's face it, they don't make 'em like Wilma Stephenson anymore.