The Music Teacher (2012 TV Movie) User Reviews

Well worth watching

[jewelch · 6/10 · 13 January 2021]

Me and the wife disagree on this one, she did not care for it but I thought it was really good. it had a very good story about friendship and loyalty, Yes I recommend it. James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 1/12/2021

Weak Beginning, Strong Ending

[atlasmb · 5/10 · 21 September 2020]

Alyson (Annie Potts) is a music teacher who runs an after-school musical theater program. When school budget constraints threaten to eliminate her program, the six students who were in her original group decide to raise money for the continuance of the esteemed program by restaging their first musical ("Life, The Musical") from their high school days.

Their adult lives are now more complicated than their teenage lives, and some dreams have been lost along the way. In addition, Alyson suffered a tragic loss that affected her lifestyle and personality.

Much of the story is told via flashbacks. The early part of the film lurches from character to character, present to past, with an irregular pace that is annoying. And a couple of inadequate performances do not help. But the performances of the six main characters and Annie Potts are solid, especially since they must act and sing.

In the story, the cathartic process of reassembling and rehearsing for the stage performance helps to resolve many of the sharacters' issues. It is no surprise that this TV movie wraps everything up in a pretty bow by its end, but the final minutes of the film are its best.

The notion that an after-school music program might benefit students is really not controversial. In the film, the concept of using private funds is their Plan B, but it's probably the best solution after all.

Hallmark sets the bar low with this one!

[jmobley70 · 3/10 · 2 October 2012]

I let this movie languish in my DVR for a month and a half. Now that I've finally watched it, I regret letting it take up the memory for that long! Here is yet another example of Hollywood getting everything wrong when it attempts to portray something it should have intimate knowledge of: putting on a show! It's almost as if Hollywood is perfectly satisfied to perpetuate all the misconceptions that "outsiders" have about the world of showbiz! "Glee" is, of course, the main offender currently. The show isn't even aptly titled; the group of young people at the heart of it is actually some mishmash of glee club, show choir, and musical theatre club. But that's another review ... I don't know where to begin critiquing "The Music Teacher," but here goes: Is Ms. Daley actually the music teacher at the school? The title of the show would suggest so, but in one scene it appears she's the geography or social studies teacher, what with the maps on the wall. She also acts fearful of losing her job, but it's just the after-school music program (which seems to actually be the musical theatre program – a different thing!) that is in danger of being cut. Similarly: in a flashback, it appears Ms. Daley teaches piano in her home, but then she starts singing as she plays! Is this actually a piano lesson, or a voice lesson? No music teacher would combine them, at least not for the child at the level her student appears to be! The songs in "Life: The Musical" – the show within the show – are absolutely dreadful. They don't seem to have the regular verse-chorus structure of anything you would label a "song," or even have a discernible melody. They just seem to keep going and going, wandering aimlessly, never reaching any sort of climax. (Do any of the songs actually end, or do they just … stop?) This leads me to conclude that the budget for this little piece of televisual cinema was quite small (or that maybe the majority of it went toward Ms. Potts' salary and permission from the Hasbro Corporation to use the logo from their board game). I would have liked it if the show that the alumni wanted to put on was a "real" musical – one that actually exists in this world, something like "The Music Man" or, hey – if they needed something in the public domain – "The Pirates of Penzance,"! I have a hard time believing that a bunch of high school students would love these particular songs – which sound like something that people in their 30s or 40s would listen to – and love them so much that they still have fond memories ten years later and get the urge to do the show again! (This, by the way, if done correctly, involves paying the publisher royalties, which I doubt either the school board would approve, or that this group would even have any idea was necessary.) Something else that indicates a low budget for "The Music Teacher" was the awful Muzak that was always playing on Zack's radio. I began to think, Are we in the truck of a 27-year-old man, or a hospital elevator? I don't remember hearing one "real" song in this movie. The music supervisor on this project must have accessed some free background-music website for source music! Clichéd phrases abound! I think every character says some variation of "Well, it's late … I should be going …" at least once whenever a situation gets tense! A sign of lazy writing! And Ms. Daley, as the director of "Life," would not let a tense situation dictate the end of a rehearsal. A decent director doesn't dismiss until he or she is satisfied with the scene! Finally, to be entirely pessimistic – or maybe just realistic – the performance at the end would not be sold out (if we're wanting this to be indicative of how things turn out in the real world), and – to be really nitpicky here – the people who did show up would not be dressed up as nicely as the audience is here! Also, it is totally inappropriate to applaud a solo in the middle of a song unless it's jazz – which this is most definitely not. I realize there's always the need to suspend some amount of disbelief while watching any movie or TV show. It just bugs me when "true-life" stories, with characters and situations you're expected to relate to, have to be so peppered with details that ruin it. I summarize with a question that paraphrases my opening statement: when is any movie or TV program that dramatizes the world of showbiz ever going to get anything right about it? This was the first Hallmark movie I've seen. Now I know, if I ever watch another, to set my expectations very low.

A delight to watch.

[jkmgth · 8/10 · 22 January 2014]

I found this movie to be a delight to watch by being a "feel good" movie. I truly enjoy watching Hallmark to escape the stresses of life at 62. Not every movie has to be violent or about sex or whatever most people feel they need to see in a movie. Just being able to sit back and watch a "FUN" movie is what life should be more about. This movie kind of reminded me about the musicals made back in the industries beginning. So what if they were not of the quality of the giants like 'Oklahoma' or 'Guys and Dolls' or even 'West Side Story' or even 'Grease' or 'Saturday Night Fever', but this movie had really nice actors and Annie Potts was enjoyable. Thank you Hallmark for giving people something decent to watch on TV.

Dumpster Fire

[lisabryan-09548 · 1/10 · 27 June 2021]

This was hands down the worst movie I have ever seen!

Music Teacher-The Melody Lingers On ****

[edwagreen · 10/10 · 16 August 2012]

No, this isn't a Mickey and Judy movie having a show in the barn so as to save the world. Appropriate for today's times as music, art and other programs are threatened by school budget cuts.

In fact, the movie really doesn't concentrate on the cuts. Rather, it is a story of inter-personal relationships as Mrs. Daly's first music class seeks to help her by making their own show.

We have a serious look at her first class. They're adults now and that doesn't exempt them from having problems in their new age category. Even Mrs. Daley, who lost her husband and son tragically in an automobile accident years back, is forced to reevaluate her life.

The cast is just wonderful. It is really a time for self-introspection and it works beautifully in this really creative and entertaining film.

A good movie in TV film standard

[benwkwu · 9/10 · 27 April 2020]

I totally don't agree to the comment of the other reviewer who has complained a lot and given low marks to this movie. Anyone who has a brain will understand thagt this is not a musical movie like those big musical films which have been made in the 50s and 60s. This is a heart warmed small budget tv film talking about tender, love and caring in relationship among people. It reminds me another great Hallmark TV movie "The Last Dance" (2000). Unfortuately, different than those always the same type so call Hallmark romantic but actually boring movies, both of these two nice movies are not really appreciated by the studio, and very difficult and rare to find it on DVD. Just hope one day a studio will wake up and put these two nice TV moives on DVD!

Great Movie

[glorioushealthedwards · 10/10 · 4 August 2022]

I really enjoyed this movie, but I missed a part due to a phone call and will have to watch it again, I missed the part of what happened and who died, I can related to moving on after death, We have to try to move on, i know I had enough love in my heart to love once again, I took many years and then made the choice to love again, I married New Years Eve 2021. I will have to watch on one of my apps.