Despite being pummeled by Mary Mazzio’s infomercial-like film into believing so, I still think that the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship is a worthwhile cause. Every year, the group organizes a contest in which thousands of disadvantaged high-school students across the country compete to pitch the best business plan.
It’s kind of like Spellbound with spreadsheets, but unlike that film about spelling bees, Mazzio’s documentary doesn’t let her students establish any identity — she homogenizes them all via rapid-fire editing, slushy montages, and annoyingly chipper music into one generic needy-but-deserving-kid. There’s no build-up or suspense leading to the final showdown, and the details of the projects fly by without registering. Commenting on her own presentation, one subject notes that she talked too fast.
Mazzio needs to slow down as well.
