The English Teacher (2013)

An English teacher's life is disrupted when a former student returns to her small town after failing as a playwright in New York.

Director:

Craig Zisk

Writers:

Dan Chariton, Stacy Chariton

Stars:

Julianne Moore, Michael Angarano, Greg Kinnear

Cast

Credited cast:
Julianne Moore	...	Linda Sinclair
Michael Angarano	...	Jason Sherwood
Greg Kinnear	...	Dr. Tom Sherwood
Lily Collins	...	Halle Anderson
Fiona Shaw	...	Narrator
Norbert Leo Butz	...	Vice Principal Phil Pelaski
Jessica Hecht	...	Principal Trudie Slocum
Charlie Saxton	...	Will
Nathan Lane	...	Carl Kapinas
Nikki Blonsky	...	Sheila Nussbaum
Sophie Curtis	...	Fallon Hughes
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alan Aisenberg	...	Benjamin Meyer
Sasha Almedia-Beers	...	Waitress
Remy Auberjonois	...	Beefy Businessman
Poonam Basu	...	Kirthi

Storyline

Linda Sinclair (Julianne Moore) is a forty-year-old unmarried high school English teacher in the small town of Kingston, Pennsylvania. She shares a small apartment with two Siamese cats and her rich collection of great literature. She maintains no close personal relationships aside from those she has with her favorite authors and stories. Her life is far less complicated than the dramas she devours on the page, and she likes it that way. But Linda's simple life turns an unexpected page when former star pupil Jason Sherwood (Michael Angarano) returns to Kingston after trying to make it as a playwright in New York. Now in his 20s, Jason is on the verge of abandoning art, pressured by his overbearing father, Dr. Tom Sherwood (Greg Kinnear), to face reality and go to law school. Linda can't stand the thought of Jason giving up on his dreams so she decides to mount his play - a dark, angst-ridden, ambitious work - as a Kingston High School production, with flamboyant drama teacher Carl ...

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Plot Keywords:

teacher | female protagonist

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Taglines:

Refuse to live life by the book.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 May 2013 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Artina Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Putting It together"
Written by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Stephen Sondheim

User Reviews

Julianne Moore is good as always, the film that surrounds her is not...

Anyone who knows me, or simply follows my Oscar predictions on a yearly basis, knows that I'm highly anticipating the hopeful moment that three- time Academy Award nominee Julianne Moore wins her long deserved Oscar. Last year, my year in advanced predictions had Moore at the top of the Best Actress heap for Craig Zisk's The English Teacher. At the time, little was known about it and I was operating on a wing and a prayer for than actual analysis. The film was pushed back and had its showing on Video and Demand as well as the Tribeca Film Festival. Essentially, the hope remains for another project. The English Teacher is a cheap farce of comedy taking unrealistic behaviors and unbelievable dialogue from its principal cast. Julianne Moore, as always, rises above anything that is going on around her. Beautifully elegant and dives head first into a character poorly structured and overtly misguided. Nonetheless, you can take her to bank every time.

What the film manages to do is highlight the beauty of Lily Collins to the utmost extreme and once again, put the undervalued Greg Kinnear in a role that offers him no strength or room to move. And don't get me started on the ending that scribes Dan Chariton and Stacy Chariton put together. Cheap, under thought, and gives the audience no credit in the process and procedures of teaching, acting, and romance. Nathan Lane is nearly boiled over in his awkward role while Michael Angarano is merely passable.

Unfortunately, The English Teacher is a miss on most counts. Julianne Moore is your reason to watch.