Teacher of the Year

This is underrated. Yes, it is somewhat meaningless, silly, and ridiculous, but that is what comedy often turns out being. Especially a mockumentary. It is for a couple hours where audiences can be entertained and laugh, not necessarily in order to be intellectually simulated or to leave with some great new wisdom having been imparted.

Characters range from very funny and quirky (robotics teacher) to downright asinine (gay guidance counselors).

Take note that to have "Teacher Of The Year" brazenly advertised on a poster and what looks to be everything included in the advertising material for this film with Keegan-Michael Key's profile picture is a serious misnomer. He is in but a fraction of the scenes and is the principal for Truman High School. Not even a teacher, and certainly not the winner of the Teacher Of The Year award, the star of the show, and the protagonist around whom the entire mockumentary revolves around, a teacher played by Matt Letscher. Who accordingly is in almost every scene.

From my time as a tutor and feedback from other teachers, putting the implausible aspects aside, the general philosophies, anecdotal going ons with students and their parents, the plentitude of frustrations that go along with the daily grind, and the more positive emotional effects of being a teacher- particularly in a public high school- are actually very relatable. Plus, the takeaway message, if you can say this has one, is realistic while still remaining positive- Yes, we should all do what we love, but we should also do what we need to for the people we love!

Good takeaway message? Funny and relatable? Mockumentary with memorable characters? Triple checks! Recommended fast more than the critics would have you believe.

Even though I'm not a teacher, I laughed so much I had to rewind a few times to catch the next lines. My daughter is a teacher & it reminded me of some of the stories she tells me about her experiences with crazy kids & crazy parents. This is a very funny film. I liked the different style used as well. It was kind of like a day in the life.... Really cool. Something out of the ordinary. Not the same old stuff you typically see in movies. You have to pay attention to catch everything cause there is a lot going on & you don't want to miss any of the witty comments. The writer did a great job. A very smart comedy is a wonderful thing to behold. I was very impressed with the cast as well. Top notch all the way. I know the movie has won a few awards, but in my opinion it deserves a lot more. Everyone will get something from watching this film.

A great film. It is a comedy with a heart touching story. It feels absolutely real but keeps you interested for the whole length of the film.

Strange it's rating is so low.

You will laugh a lot and will also have things to ponder about at the end, unlike some crude comedy films with crude jokes that leave a bad taste at the end.

The film's style may not seem nice at first but later we realize that it's the style best suited to this film.

By the way the action is really great.

I really enjoyed this film because, as a teacher, I recognized archetypes and situations and felt that the writers had a good sense of the craziness that is teaching in high school. However, I found that the political issues surrounding public vs. private/independent vs. charter are glossed over and dealt with in a single scene, yet they expect intellectual investment from the audience without true discussion.

I also saw a serious rift between two separate aspects in the film. Thee is a serious plot, and a serious subplot. Questions of unions and stakeholders, finances and resources are all there. And, yes, there is a little bit of humor in there. But then there are the supporting characters, the other teachers who are so criminally negligent and ridiculous in what they do that it undercuts any realism in the major story arc. Yes, in a school some teachers are eccentric and if this mockumentary wants to show a teacher singing a silly song in class in an effort to increase scores, then that's great. But then, to show a teacher making students cry repeatedly, or counselors endorsing alcohol and drugs? That makes for a great moment in a complete parody, but not in a film which purports to show the serious side of things.

This film owes much to the Christopher Guest/Harry Shearer/Michael McKean/Rob Reiner school of films. The dry, low key humor and scenes that are just a touch awkward (one character actually references Spinal Tap). But then it also tries to be the movie "Teachers" (Nick Nolte) with its hard moral choices and complex central character and also "Police Academy" with its wacky and zany supporting players.

The good parts were great, the dumb parts were silly, but the movie was not a cohesive whole.

Told in a semi-documentary fashion, this film centers around an English teacher by the name of "Mitch Carter" (Matt Letscher) who has been nominated for national recognition as "Teacher of the Year." Needless to say, this high honor has its advantages and disadvantages with some of the people at his high school seeking to share the spotlight with him while others feel somewhat envious. Most notably, the principal, "Ronald Douche" (Keegan-Michael Key) belongs to the first category whereas the instructor specializing in robotics by the name of "Steven Queeg" (Jamie Kaler) definitely belongs in the second group. To that effect, Mitch soon finds that he has a difficult decision to make due to the fact that, while he feels a certain sense of accomplishment in his current profession, the honor also comes with an opportunity to make much more money as a national spokesman for certain causes for which he has no real regard. Now rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an okay comedy for the most part which had some good scenes here and there with those involving the college counselors, "Lowell Hammer" (Jason Sklar) and his brother "Clive Hammer" (Randy Sklar) probably being the funniest in my opinion. I also thought that Keegan-Michael Key performed quite well too. On the other hand, I thought the drama involving one teacher named "Chris Conner" (Brian Campbell) was a bit too deep and cast a shadow over the comedy which wasn't all that appealing. Be that as it may, this film still managed to pass the time fairly well and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.