Teachers

With all the chaos that is happening in public schools today, I thought it would be fitting to take a look back at the darkly comic, 1984 film Teachers.

Alex Jurel, Nick Nolte, a burnt out social studies teacher and guidance counselor, thought it would be a typical Monday at JFK High School. But the day turns into total chaos. One teacher, Allen Garfield, has his gun stolen. A recently released mental patient, Richard Mulligan, poses as a substitute. Another teacher, Royal Dano, has passed away during class and nobody notices. One of his students, Laura Dern, asks if he can take her to get an abortion. And a tough kid he mentors, Ralph Macchio, asks for his help with a teachers car he has stolen. But the cherry on the cake comes in the form of a former student, JoBeth Williams, who is there to serve him a subpoena. It seems that a recent graduate is suing the school because he never learned to read. Alex must decide if he is going to lie to keep his job or tell the truth.

This scathing look at the public school system was directed by Arthur Hiller, who covered similar ground with his sendup of the hospital system in 1971's The Hospital. He has assembled a top notch cast, which includes Judd Hirsch, Lee Grant, Morgan Freeman and Crispin Glover. Mulligan really steals the show as the former mental patent who in turn becomes the best teacher in the building.

I have a lot of friends who hated this movie, but I thought it was pretty clever and funny.

It's available on dvd and blu ray.