Tenured

I wanted to enjoy "Tenured". After all, I was once a teacher and the notion of a film about one who simply gave up trying could be interesting...even though the idea is anything but new. Unfortunately, the story is paper thin and gets old very, very quickly.

Gil Zabarsky plays Mr. Collins...a 5th grade teacher whose marriage is on the rocks. As a result of this and some HUGE personality shortcomings, he has given up on teaching the kids anything. He curses, lets them do whatever they want (including climbing on the roof and getting naked) and is insolent and disrespectful to his boss. This is the entire film...along with barfing (they show it....a rather nasty trend in many recent films).

The film is a one idea film which loses steam pretty much when the picture begins. As I watched my wife kept complaining that "it wasn't funny and we have seen better films like it". She's right and sums it up better than I can.

Hilarious deadpan, like "Stranger than Fiction" level good-I have to disagree with the negative reviews. Flat delivery and the dialed down production value let this hidden gem really be all about the story. And the story is a well-crafted slow-burn, a believable and relatable confession fully realized. The cheerleader bit. "It's just pain," with the blue rope of friendship. It's just the very best kind of stuff there is. See for yourself.

Apparently, we have some critics here but I have to say this film is a little gem! It's definitely for people who love to smile. Its heartwarming and literally everything about this movie wants me to watch it again. Sure it's not on an Oscar-winning level but so isn't any Cameron Diaz film. And let me tell you this, I love about any Cameron Diaz film!

Tenured is an easy to watch situation comedy of a broken hearted grade school teacher who looses focus of his teaching responsibilities while trying to win back his wife who has left him.

He is tasked with directing the school play which gives him the opportunity to have his students act out what dissolved his marriage. In doing this his students learn a life lesson and the other parents see themselves in his story.

Sounds like a drama - but it is not! This sweet film is full of charming goofy but loveable characters that give you more smiles than laughter.

If Kate Flannery didn't plug it on KTLA, I would have never given it a chance. As someone who has grown up with teachers and worked in schools myself, I found myself laughing out loud. The people behind the movie did a great job of creating the ambiance of how it is in schools. In one of the first few scenes, the main character has a talk with a student that is disciplinary in nature, and that scene alone hit the nail on the head as to what it is like to work in a school. It is a great movie and everything that 'Bad Teacher' should have been. My only nitpick is that the principal character could have done a better job of being built up as a villain.