Film makes no sense. Little sympathy for characters. (Spoilers).

I've personally known a teen about the same age who killed himself over less. It happens.

It's about as unbelievable as Dangerous Minds. A bunch of seemingly hand-picked ethnic sulky gang-bangers being forced to attend school, and the plucky substitute teacher who manages to pander to their sulky threats and demands.

Or am I missing something like you did?

The film actually makes a lot of sense.

For one thing, the problem of children being crushed by the demands of their parents is always relevant. Too often parents will try to live out their own unfulfilled dreams through their children, seeing those children as extensions of themselves, not individuals with their own needs & dreams.

For another thing, it raises questions about life. Is it solely utilitarian, or is there something deeper, more rewarding & satisfying, to be found? Keating touches on this with his lines:

“We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”

Yes, there are things we do in order to sustain life. But there is (or can be) more to life than that. Are we just cogs in the social-economic machine, or do our individual lives have meaning & purpose? Poetry is one way of discovering that meaning & purpose. Not the only way, but one of them.

Yes, this movie makes a lot of sense!