john voight play the title character in this movie base on author pat conroy ( prince of tide ) autobiography . a fine teacher film and it tell the story of a naive pat conroy and a young english teacher whose first assignment be in an elementary school on a rural island . the only white man on the island and he must battle internal and external pressure a he attempt to instill education and value in child who for generation have be systematically deny such thing . a solid performance that really make you think .