The bespectacled, wrapped-too-tight spinster, Julianne Moore, is an archetypal schoolmarm with a fire down below living a life of quiet desperation. Until a former student, a failed playwright, with the right poker (pun intentional) arrives in town with a play no one wants to see. Teach flips over the play and pushes the Drama Club to mount it as the complications pile up.
Ms. Moore is simply superb here. She's a national treasure and woman-of-a-certain-age Hollywood still calls. And rightfully so. Although pony tailed and covered head-to-toe as "The English Teacher," she's still hot!
Teach judges men she dates with stream-of-consciousness displayed as on-screen text. She's abetted by a proper British narrator, Fiona Shaw, who adds an element of Gothic Romance to this tasty stew.
The Drama Club is run by a terrific Nathan Lane, a failed Broadway Star, who delivers the funniest lines in his trademark condescending dryness. Kudos also to Jessica Hecht and Norbert Leo Butz as Principal and Vice who take exception to the play's dark ending and demand a rewrite. Add a serviceable Greg Kinnear who easily handles his role as the playwright's Doctor Dad.
The play, "The Chrysalis," is received as having a universal theme all people relate to as if it were written specifically about/for them. The broad interpretation is Ms. Moore, by film's end, has broken out of chrysalis to butterfly. (Much to the consternation of the narrator who unsuccessfully attempts to talk Teach out of a date with Kinnear.) Scratching beneath the surface, students of Literature and Drama might find the film mildly thought provoking.
Ms. Moore's arc is predictable, but the journey remains a lot of fun.
Though a bit lightweight, with a great cast, a smart, funny and intelligent script, there's little to dislike about "The English Teacher." One hopes Ms. Moore will keep you after class.
Ms. Moore is simply superb here. She's a national treasure and woman-of-a-certain-age Hollywood still calls. And rightfully so. Although pony tailed and covered head-to-toe as "The English Teacher," she's still hot!
Teach judges men she dates with stream-of-consciousness displayed as on-screen text. She's abetted by a proper British narrator, Fiona Shaw, who adds an element of Gothic Romance to this tasty stew.
The Drama Club is run by a terrific Nathan Lane, a failed Broadway Star, who delivers the funniest lines in his trademark condescending dryness. Kudos also to Jessica Hecht and Norbert Leo Butz as Principal and Vice who take exception to the play's dark ending and demand a rewrite. Add a serviceable Greg Kinnear who easily handles his role as the playwright's Doctor Dad.
The play, "The Chrysalis," is received as having a universal theme all people relate to as if it were written specifically about/for them. The broad interpretation is Ms. Moore, by film's end, has broken out of chrysalis to butterfly. (Much to the consternation of the narrator who unsuccessfully attempts to talk Teach out of a date with Kinnear.) Scratching beneath the surface, students of Literature and Drama might find the film mildly thought provoking.
Ms. Moore's arc is predictable, but the journey remains a lot of fun.
Though a bit lightweight, with a great cast, a smart, funny and intelligent script, there's little to dislike about "The English Teacher." One hopes Ms. Moore will keep you after class.