Teachers | |
---|---|
Directed by | Arthur Hiller |
Written by | W. R. McKinney |
Produced by | Art Levinson Aaron Russo Irwin Russo |
Starring | |
Cinematography | David M. Walsh |
Edited by | Don Zimmerman |
Production companies | United Artists Aaron Russo Productions |
Distributed by | MGM/UA Entertainment Co. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 106 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $9 million [1] |
Box office | $27.7 million (US) [2] |
Teachers is a 1984 American satirical black comedy-drama film written by W. R. McKinney, directed by Arthur Hiller, and starring Nick Nolte, JoBeth Williams, Ralph Macchio, and Judd Hirsch. It was shot in Columbus, Ohio, mostly at the former Central High School.
The film is set primarily in a high school in Columbus, Ohio. The school is facing poor publicity due to a lawsuit by a former student, and the administration is pressuring a popular teacher to resign because they view him as a threat. The teacher stands up to his bosses and threatens them with another lawsuit if they fire him.
On a typical Monday morning at John F. Kennedy High School in the inner city of Columbus, Ohio, there is conflict between teachers, a student with a stab wound and a talk of an upcoming lawsuit. Vice principal Roger Rubell and principal Eugene Horn meet with lawyer Lisa Hammond, who is in charge of depositions for a recent graduate's lawsuit against the school for granting him a diploma despite his illiteracy.
Alex Jurel is a veteran social studies teacher who takes his job lightly and is popular because he can identify and connect with students. Alex has been worn down by years of coming between the rowdy students and the administration's demands. He is assigned to temporarily assume the duties of the school psychologist and becomes a mentor to student Eddie Pilikian. Alex also develops a romance with Lisa, his former student.
Herbert Gower is a mental-institution outpatient who has been mistaken for a substitute teacher and placed in charge of a history class that he makes fun, educational and engaging. Sleepy old English teacher Mr. Stiles does not actually teach his students but just hands out worksheet photocopies for his students to complete during class, and he dies unnoticed in his sleep while in class. Gym teacher Mr. Troy has a sexual relationship with a student. Eddie's best friend Danny, a schizophrenic and kleptomaniac student, is shot and killed by the police after he draws a gun during a drug search.
Superintendent Donna Burke and school lawyer Al Lewis are attempting to avoid bad publicity associated with the lawsuit. They try to determine which teachers might damage the school's reputation in their depositions.
The administration recognizes the threat that Alex poses to their social standing and forces him to resign before his deposition. After Lisa harshly criticizes him, he finally stands up to Burke and Rubell, reminding them that the school exists for the students and not for the administrators. He also threatens a lawsuit if he is fired. He proudly walks back into the school to loud cheers from the students.
The film opened to mixed reviews, and some reviewers felt that it lacked the incisive touch of Paddy Chayefsky's satires (he had previously written Hiller's other dark satire, 1971's The Hospital ).
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 59% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 5.60/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With moments of stinging satire undermined by jarring tonal shifts, Teachers offers an education in the limits of a strong cast's ability to prop up uneven writing." [3] On Metacritic, the film received a score of 39 based on 8 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [4]
Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader remarked that "the characters [in the film] have all been invented for strictly didactic purposes: they come on waving their moral conflicts like big white bed sheets, and as soon as you see them you can predict every trite turn of the plot." [5]
A critic for Variety said that the film "makes stinging, important points about the mess of secondary public education, but [that] those points are diluted gradually by an overload of comic absurdity." [6]
Roger Ebert remarked that "the idea here was to do for teaching what M*A*S*H* did for the war. Unfortunately, they've done for schools what General Hospital did for medicine. Teachers has an interesting central idea, about shell-shocked teachers trying to remember their early idealism, but the movie junks it up with so many sitcom compromises that we can never quite believe the serious scenes." Ebert ended his review: "Here's the sad bottom line: Teachers was just interesting enough to convince me a great movie can be made about big-city high schools. This isn't it." [7]
Pat Collins of the CBS Morning News remarked that "there's an overwhelming urge to take out a giant eraser and wipe the screen clean of what is absolutely the worst 'high school is a jungle' movie to come down the locker line corridor in a long time," singling out "the ham in the performances of the actors who have all done better in the past" before calling the film "a shrill, preachy and superficial treatment of the subject of public school education." Collins continued: "[T]eachers, students and parents in the real world don't need Hollywood to tell them what's wrong with the problems of public schools ... compared to Teachers, homework is more fun." [8]
Teachers | |
---|---|
Soundtrack album by various artists | |
Released | 1 November 1984 |
Studio | Various |
Genre | Rock |
Label | Capitol |
Producer | Aaron Russo |
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [9] |
The theme song by 38 Special was released as a single and reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. "Understanding" by Seger reached No. 17 and Cocker's "Edge of a Dream" hit No. 69.[ citation needed ]
Cash Box said of Seger's "Understanding" that it "is by and large successful in bringing together a good, singable melody, meaningful lyrics, and superb performances" but said that the chorus "remains on one plateau and never fully takes hold." [10]
Repo Man is a 1984 American science fiction black comedy film written and directed by Alex Cox in his directorial debut. It stars Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez, with Tracey Walter, Olivia Barash, Sy Richardson, Vonetta McGee, Fox Harris, and Dick Rude among the supporting cast. Set in Los Angeles, the plot concerns a young punk rocker (Estevez) who is recruited by a car repossession agency and gets caught up in the pursuit of a mysterious Chevrolet Malibu that might be connected to extraterrestrials.
The Karate Kid is a 1984 American martial arts drama film written by Robert Mark Kamen and directed by John G. Avildsen. It is the first installment in the Karate Kid franchise, and stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and William Zabka. The Karate Kid follows the story of Daniel LaRusso (Macchio), an Italian-American teenager who moves with his widowed mother to the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles. There, LaRusso encounters harassment from his new bullies, one of whom is Johnny Lawrence (Zabka), the ex-boyfriend of LaRusso's love interest, Ali Mills (Shue). As a result, LaRusso is taught karate by a handyman and war veteran named Mr. Miyagi (Morita) to help LaRusso defend himself and compete in a karate tournament against his bullies.
My Cousin Vinny is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, written by Dale Launer, and produced by Launer and Paul Schiff. It stars Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Mitchell Whitfield, Lane Smith, Bruce McGill, and the final film appearance of Fred Gwynne. The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox and released on March 13, 1992.
Eugene Kal Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. He is best known for co-hosting various movie review television series with colleague Roger Ebert.
Mask is a 1985 American biographical drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Cher, Sam Elliott, and Eric Stoltz with supporting roles played by Dennis Burkley, Laura Dern, Estelle Getty, and Richard Dysart. Cher received the 1985 Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actress. The film is based on the life and early death of Roy L. "Rocky" Dennis, a boy who had craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, an extremely rare genetic disorder known commonly as lionitis due to the disfiguring cranial enlargements that it causes. Mask won the Academy Award for Best Makeup at the 58th ceremony, while Cher and Stoltz received Golden Globe Award nominations for their performances.
Risky Business is a 1983 American teen sex comedy drama film written and directed by Paul Brickman and starring Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. It follows the sexual exploits of a high school senior during his parents' vacation trip. The film is considered to be Cruise's breakout role.
Election is a 1999 American black comedy film directed by Alexander Payne from a screenplay by Payne and Jim Taylor, based on Tom Perrotta's 1998 novel of the same name.
High School High is a 1996 American comedy film about an inner city high school in the Los Angeles, California area, starring Jon Lovitz, Tia Carrere, Mekhi Phifer, Louise Fletcher, Malinda Williams, and Brian Hooks. It is a spoof of films concerning idealistic teachers being confronted with a class of cynical teenagers, disengaged by conventional schooling, and loosely parodies Blackboard Jungle, High School Confidential, The Principal, Dangerous Minds, Lean on Me, The Substitute, Stand and Deliver, and Grease.
Wicker Park is a 2004 American romantic thriller drama film directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Josh Hartnett, Rose Byrne, Diane Kruger and Matthew Lillard. It is a remake of the 1996 French film L'Appartement, which in turn is loosely based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was nominated for the Grand Prix at the Montreal World Film Festival, the city in which the film was partially filmed.
Major Payne is a 1995 American military comedy film directed by Nick Castle and starring Damon Wayans, who wrote with Dean Lorey and Gary Rosen. The film co-stars Karyn Parsons, Steven Martini and Michael Ironside. It is a loose remake of the 1955 film The Private War of Major Benson, starring Charlton Heston. Major Payne was released in the United States on March 24 and grossed $30 million. Wayans plays a military officer who, after being discharged, attempts to lead a dysfunctional group of youth cadets to victory in a competition.
One Eight Seven is a 1997 American crime thriller film directed by Kevin Reynolds. It was the first top-billed starring role for Samuel L. Jackson, who plays a Los Angeles teacher caught with gang trouble in an urban high school. The film's name comes from the California Penal Code Section 187, which defines murder.
Distant Thunder is a 1988 American drama film directed by Rick Rosenthal and starring John Lithgow and Ralph Macchio.
The Outsiders is a 1983 American coming-of-age crime drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is an adaptation of the 1967 novel of the same name by S. E. Hinton and was released on March 25, 1983, in the United States. Jo Ellen Misakian, a librarian at Lone Star Elementary School in Fresno, California, and her students were responsible for inspiring Coppola to make the film.
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery is a 1992 American historical adventure film directed by John Glen. It was the last project developed by the father and son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind. The film follows events after the fall of the Emirate of Granada, and leads up to the voyage of Columbus to the New World in 1492.
Class of 1984 is a 1982 drama thriller film directed by Mark Lester and co-written by Tom Holland and John Saxton, based on a story by Holland. The film stars Perry King, Merrie Lynn Ross, Timothy Van Patten, Lisa Langlois, Stefan Arngrim, Michael J. Fox, and Roddy McDowall.
Place Vendôme is a 1998 French crime drama film directed by Nicole Garcia, starring Catherine Deneuve, and named after the Place Vendôme in Paris.
The Substitute is a 1996 American action thriller film directed by Robert Mandel and starring Tom Berenger, Ernie Hudson, Marc Anthony, William Forsythe, Raymond Cruz and Luis Guzmán. It was filmed at Miami Sr. High school.
Betrayal is a 1983 British drama film adaptation of Harold Pinter's 1978 play of the same name. With a semi-autobiographical screenplay by Pinter, the film was produced by Sam Spiegel and directed by David Jones. It was critically well received. Distributed by 20th Century Fox International Classics in the United States, it was first screened in movie theaters in New York in February 1983.
Doubt is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by John Patrick Shanley, based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-winning 2004 stage play Doubt: A Parable. Produced by Scott Rudin, the film takes place in a Catholic elementary school named for St. Nicholas, led by Sister Aloysius. Sister James tells Aloysius that Father Flynn might be paying too much attention to the school's only black student, Donald Miller, thus leading to Aloysius investigating Flynn's behaviour. The film also features Viola Davis as Donald Miller's mother, Mrs. Miller, in her breakout role.
Tru Loved is a 2008 independent film written and directed by Stewart Wade and starring Najarra Townsend, Jake Abel, Matthew Thompson and Alexandra Paul.