Synopsis
Teacher Linda Sinclair balances her staid home life with an incredible passion for her subject, but her routine is forever altered when a former star pupil and his unsupportive father reenter her life.
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Cast
- Julianne MooreLinda Sinclair
- Michael AngaranoJason Sherwood
- Greg KinnearDr. Tom Sherwood
- Lily CollinsHalle Anderson
- Fiona ShawNarrator
- Norbert Leo ButzVice Principal Phil Pelaski
- Jessica HechtPrincipal Trudie Slocum
- Charlie SaxtonWill
- Nathan LaneCarl Kapinas
- Nikki BlonskySheila Nussbaum
Recommendations
- 75
USA Today
Nathan Lane steals the show in this tale of a high school English teacher who becomes obsessed with a student's play. - 75
Christian Science Monitor
The most pressing question I took away from the film is, Are they really still teaching "A Tale of Two Cities" in honors English classes? - 75
Observer
Under Craig Zisk’s frisky direction, the entire cast is superb and wrinkle-free. The screenplay, by husband-wife team Dan and Stacy Chariton, is thin as a poker chip but as clever as it is contrived. - 50
Slant Magazine
This is the second recent release—after The Great Gatsby, whose overwrought, on-screen text it even shares—that aims to channel great, time-honored storytelling without being able to tell a great story. - 50
The A.V. Club
Even the sitcom stylings might not matter if the movie were funny, but in spite of the potential for Guffman-esque comedy, The English Teacher boasts few surprises—except perhaps its message, which seems to be that selling out isn’t so bad. Chalk it up to a case of “write what you know.” - 50
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
The line between “cute” and “cutesy” is violated, repeatedly, in the sometimes funny, often cloying comedy The English Teacher. - 40
Time Out
The film’s cutesy vibe is closer to "Glee" than "Election" or "Waiting for Guffman," with Nathan Lane’s exuberant drama teacher pitching several yards of camp tent. - 30
Los Angeles Times
The English Teacher is a tragedy masquerading as a comedy and doing a disservice to both.
