Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson's doc American Promise is a story about outsized hopes fostered by the American educational system, and the equally outsized disappointments that await those who dare to believe in their own will to power.

Because of its focus, it's easy to mistake the film, which was culled from over 800 hours of footage, for an advocacy piece. In a way, that was the original intent, but what the pair ended up creating is far more valuable--an unfettered look at two young men as they grow into adulthood.

Originally, the film's director's titled it "The Dalton Experiment" after an ambitious outreach project undertaken at the prestigious Dalton School of New York which resulted in the enrollment of a number of African American children. As the project continued, institutions stayed accessible, but parents backed away, and the filming soon paired down to two boys, their own son Idris and his friend, Seun Summers.

In scope, American Promise resembles nothing so much as Michael Apted's Up series, a work of which both directors are avowed admirers. The inevitable cultural differences between Idris and Seun and the predominately white students and teachers at the Dalton School make for interesting drama, and there is something to be gleaned to about being young, male and black here, but the individual stories of these boys, captured with a rare amount of access, make it difficult to generalize and more rewarding to just observe their fascinating development. For their part, each family endures a series of hardships of their own, including both students being placed on academic probation (the film gently raises questions as to whether this is race-motivated or genuine) and fears of low self-esteem engendered by their excluded status, as well as parental frustrations that this generation isn't working hard enough with what they're been given.

Boasting some remarkably tight, narrative editing for such an expansive project, American Promise never seems overlong at 2 hours and 14 minutes. On the countrary, it's a pleasure to watch Idris and Seun as they develop, and a shame to let them go. Rather than generate a film that seperates, Brewster and Stephenson have captured something universal: what it's like to be young, smart, and at odds with our country's precarious educational system. Rotten Tomatoes: 82%. Roxie.

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