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25 out of 27 people found the following review useful:

Good film with some problems.

Author: grendelkhan from Xanadu
20 April 2003

I love this film. My father, a teacher for 37 years, loved this film. It's not the greatest cinematic effort in the world, it's not even the best film about teaching (see "The Blackboard Jungle" or "Goodbye Mr Chips"). It is, however, a fine effort and an entertaining film.

There are some great comedic moments in this film: the school psychologist flipping out and squirting Ditto in the face with ink, Richard Mulligan as a mental patient who becomes a substitute history teacher, the theft of a teacher's desk, the whole "Ditto" character. There are problems, however.

The chief problem in this film is the inability to strike a balance between comedy and drama. The film tries to raise vital issue facing schools: funding, apathy amongst staff, lack of parental involvement, safety, administrators who worry more about image than the education of their students, teen angst, conformity vs. individuality. Much of the comedy is used to highlight many of these issues, and some of it works quite well. At other times, it devalues the issue at hand.

There are fine performances from Nick Nolte, Judd Hirsch, Morgan Freeman, Jobeth Williams, Crispin Glover, and Laura Dern. Richard Mulligan and Royal Dano are hysterical. Ralph Macchio is Ralph Macchio; not much depth, but some good moments.

I don't think this is an insult to teaching, as it tries to show different styles. Nolte is the idealistic teacher who tries to reach his students and get them involved, but has lost his passion in an uncaring system. Royal Dano, "Ditto", is a teacher who has removed any responsibility in actively teaching his students and just marks time until retirement. Allen Garfield tries to teach his class, but doesn't seem to be able to reach them and is reduced to an object of ridicule amongst his students. Richard Mulligan is a mental patient, who through an absurd set of circumstances, becomes a substitute history teacher. He literally brings history to life, by dressing up as various figures of history, and acting out their achievements. He uses different methods to engage his students and they respond.

In the end, this film is a mixed bag. It tries to illuminate the struggles of education, offers some solutions, and entertains; but, its message gets a bit lost. Still, it's definitely worth viewing.

Incidently, one reviewer remarked about the scene where Ditto is squirted with ink, saying he is using some kind of paper machine. For you younger viewers out there, that is a ditto machine. In the ancient days before photocopiers became standard, teachers had to prepare their tests and hand-outs on ditto machines. It was a kind of simple printing press. Many were hand-cranked and required a lot of effort to churn out a stack of tests. God help you if you had several pages to print. The ink had a very distinct smell and was often the center of student jokes about getting high off of the tests. Ah, those were the days! Nowadays, the best students can hope for is getting a little toner on their hands from the copier, or a faded screen on their computer. And we used to have to walk ten miles to school, through fifty feet of snow, uphill, both ways; and we liked it!

13 out of 19 people found the following review useful:

Some of the better stars of the 80's

Author: jw-tutor from I reside
29 June 2003

This is another high school is hell movies, and is quite good. This one concentrates more on the teachers themselves as they fight (or don't fight) the administration to try to get the kids educated. The film is centered on Nolte's character dealing with a legal issue brought on behalf of a former student by Williams (who is also a former student, now lawyer), which helps to snap him out of his apathy. This film is still very apropos as the problems it addresses are still with us.

6/10 - Worth a rent

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:

More realistic than people think

Author: ballen78 from Mason WV
18 May 2011

I'm finishing up my 7th year as a an 8th grade teacher at a typical rural public junior high/high school, and I watch this movie at the end of each school year. It does a few things for me: 1. Helps me realize just how f'd up the people I work with/for really are. 2. Gives me something to laugh about to take the edge off of a long school year. 3. Motivates me to keep teaching year after year even when I've just finished teaching some rough classes.

As for the movie itself, it's up and down. Nolte is his typical mid-80's drunken self. Laura Dern was outstanding as the slutty student, and the rest of the cast fills in the gaps. What I like about the movie is that the teachers, even as stereotypical as they are portrayed, are so real. I can name a fellow faculty member for each role, as most teachers probably could.

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:

better than I remembered

Author: Robert D. Ruplenas
13 June 2010

When I first saw this movie shortly after it came out I thought it was a little over-the-top, despite the many memorable comic moments. Having had a chance to see it again many years later on cable I find it has more depth than I had seen in it originally. It is definitely a critique of public education, but it does not set up any easy enemies. Everyone here is complicit in a failing system - the unions, the school board, the lawyers, parents, complacent teachers, go-along- to-get-along administrators, &c &c. It is also touching to see how many of these people are not bad people, but are just trying to make a flawed system work (in this respect I find Judd Hirsch, as the put-upon assistant principal, the hidden gem of the movie). Having seen it again after all these years I find it provocative and, surprisingly, touching, especially Nolte's final peroration. And the best part,after all these years, is still Richard Mulligan, as the certifiable lunatic who turns out to be the best teacher in the whole damn school (a brilliant touch on the part of the writers) !!!!!

5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:

Well done

Author: Mike (rkoegel@earthlink.net) from Selbyside - St. Paul, MN USA
26 May 1999

The movie itself shows nothing really new, but the acting is pretty good and everyone is well cast. Especially Ralph Macchio, who gives a great performance as a troubled youth, and doesn't give one of those annoying ones like he did in THE KARATE KID III. Nick Nolte is also enjoyable as the teacher who doesn't want to follow the school's standard procedure. Too bad the movie didn't get the notice it deserved.

8 out of 13 people found the following review useful:

Fun, silly and semi-relevant movie...

Author: hitch75 from United States
21 March 2007

I just wanted to comment on the previous/first commenter's comments. You mentioned that you didn't think there was any point to having the teacher who doesn't teach & sleeps all day in class. You couldn't possibly be more mistaken! Of course there was a point -- his LACK of teaching/presence makes one think about who is teaching our kids. I am a teacher, in fact, and I can tell you that there are many teachers out there who are ONE step away from retirement & choose to "not" teach every day in their classrooms. What's interesting is seeing what the students do in the absence of a really good, effective teacher.

This move was "over the top" and felt pretty cheesy at times, but overall, it has a good, interesting, and important message about what real teaching is about. The needs of our youth have changed in the past 20, 30, 40+ years. This movie is TWENTY-THREE years old and yet it was onto something -- kids need teachers who are REAL people. They need teachers who maintain high standards of both work habits AND personal behavior BUT who also model what being a REAL human being/adult looks like.

Nolte's character definitely got himself into hot water -- and nowadays, it could have been much hotter actually -- and overstepped many, many boundaries in his attempt to help his struggling students. But, overall, what he did to inspire and connect with them definitely outweighed the mistakes.

Anyway, give it a shot and watch this. I grew up in the '80s but for some reason, never caught this one. If you want to revisit the era of cheese -- typical 80s soundtrack, 80s style, actors (Ralph Macchio, Crispin Glover, Laura Dern) and actually get a little insight into what it means to be a public high school teacher, check it out.

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:

Good film, flawed, but good.

Author: John Drake from United States
27 June 2011

I saw this movie again recently and even though it was exaggerated a little, I thought it was pretty good. I went to both public and private schools in the 70s-80s and saw many of the same sort of teachers and administration in both types of school. I had teachers who didn't care, who just couldn't teach, and those who actually did try to engage the students and do a good job, and all of those types, although exaggerated a little, are portrayed here. I've also seen clueless principals who just hid out in their offices all day and were in their car driving away 5 minutes before the final bell rang.

Around the time the movie was released, I read a news story about a girl who was valedictorian of her school, in the National Honors Society, but flunked out of college due to being unable to read because of dyslexia and she ended up suing her school.

This wasn't clearly the case in the film, but should a student who can't perform to a minimum academic standard or doesn't even show up for class and turn in work still pass and get a diploma?

The fact the school was more concerned with with its image than with addressing the issue is something I also saw in school growing up and even now. In my area recently, a local doctor sued his son's former school over unrefunded tuition money. He claimed his son was bullied there for a couple of years and complaints and meetings with school officials didn't help, so he enrolled his son elsewhere. When he unenrolled his son, the school would only refund the unused portion of tuition if the father signed a confidentiality agreement stating he wouldn't discuss what went on there. Sound familiar?

Although a bit over the top, Teachers is an example of what went on, and probably still goes on, in schools and is worth seeing.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:

Laughed my self silly

Author: tx_ghost from United States
17 March 2012

great comedy and some good drama, One thing to Point out from the First review was the the Machine was a stencil duplicator or mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo) is a low-cost printing press that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper.

Along with spirit duplicators and hectographs, mimeographs were for many decades used to print short-run office work, classroom materials, and church bulletins. They also were critical to the development of early fanzines because their low cost and availability enabled publication of amateur writings. These technologies began to be supplanted by photocopying and cheap offset printing in the late 1960s.

Mimeographs did Smell something awful. I am trying to remember if we used them in the early 80'sI know we did in the 70's. Comments on a Movies about teachers and Schools can be Educational.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:

prophetic performances

Author: Night Owl from Michigan
28 May 2006

Just watched this movie again (found the VHS at a Goodwill for 99 cents!). Two performances I noticed that I hadn't recognized from previous viewings: Anthony Heald as the "Narc", who later appeared as "Assistant Principal Scott Goober" in Boston Public, and Steven Hill as the attorney "Sloan", who later appeared as the main attorney "D.A. Adam Schiff" in Law And Order. I thought both of these performances were ironic and somewhat prophetic -- the high school narc turned principal, and Hill as a D.A. in both roles.

That's all. Maybe someday this film will be released on DVD, and we won't have to search it out on VHS from thrift stores.

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:

Teachers Tells Its Lesson Quite Well ****

Author: edwagreen from United States
20 July 2010

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This off-the-wall film, unrealistic at times, is absolutely terrific. Why? It brings forth the blame of the urban school system on where it belongs- the administration, uncaring parents, and even the teachers to some degree.

Judd Hirsch is perfect as the lousy English teacher who got out of the classroom and is now some stinker as an assistant principal.

The always terrific Lee Grant shines as the District Superintendent, desperately trying to save her rear end and those of her administrators at the expense of the students who attend this school of utter failure. Of course, we must remember that it is the student population that will make or break a school.

Nick Nolte, as the frustrated burned out teacher, is perfect for the part. He reaches the point where he is no longer able to work under a miserable system.

While the section dealing with the teacher who died while reading a newspaper may be over the top, the sequence just shows you how bad our schools can be.

Jo Beth Williams is stunning as a former graduate, an attorney, who is fighting the school for its inability to educate.

James Dean could move over thanks to a towering performance by Ralph Macchio, as a student going nowhere but to disaster. Macchio conveys the frustrated, out of control kid, who is almost doomed by uncaring parents and an administration in school. This film is great on detail. Madeleine Sherwood plays the role of the school secretary just as I've observed many a secretary. School secretaries think that they run the schools and they're not entirely wrong. Principals have given them such authority. William Schallert, who portrays the principal in this film, conveys the idea of the figure head. He is there in name only. Afraid of scandal and to step on toes, he is the typical principal leading an urban school-while counting the days to retirement. This film is definitely thought provoking as it attempts to establish what is going on in our urban school system. It a rousing success.

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