Rodrigo Amaro The movie "Teachers" pledges to fight for the cause of education, pointing out what's wrong in a damaged system that awards students who don't even show up in class, mocks the school system and also guarantee some laughs with it. The message is good, it's not anything out of this world, but the intersection of genres and some choices get in the way of making this a greater film. Despite this being a 1980's flick, "Teachers" is not dated and feels more relevant now than ever. Schools like the one depicted here are quite common, with variations on the same tune: precarious places with uninterested teachers and even worse students, and directors trying to please themselves and the government with false statistics to get more funding, that always gets lost somewhere. It'll open some eyes about the obstacles inside the educational system and the politics behind one of the greatest tragedies of all: present students and future workers have their potential wasted under those circumstances, a present with no knowledge and a future without opportunities. You know the rest of the picture in real life, and it can only turn darker.A high school is facing a lawsuit from one of their former graduated student who passed all exams but who doesn't even know how to read. This premise, so far, looks dumb cause this kid benefited, in a way, of the institution policies and then got mad he got shunned off by possible employers, then sue them? No judge in their right mind would accept that. Anyway...The prosecutor (JoBeth Williams) goes to the school to find out what really happened and if the teachers knew about this wrongful approval. One of the masters is a former teacher of hers (Nick Nolte), an idealistic man she saw as an example to be followed but at the current moment is deeply involved in the place's mode of conducting business: they need to get more budget and they can only guarantee that with results - which they don't have because they are a low quality school (but the government doesn't know that!). It's a game of pretending but he teaches, he cares about his students, and that's why the woman is convinced he can help her to make her case against the school, after knowing that no one's gonna help her there.In between the battle of ideologies Nick's character has with the prosecutor (the institution's reality vs. the dreamy cause of education) and the obstacles he faces with the board of directors, he tries to save some conflicted students - a rebel boy (Ralph Macchio) neglected by his divorced parents, who is forced to take reading classes in order to pass since he was already pushed grades after grades by thousands of other teachers - and a girl (Laura Dern) who was knocked-up by a PE teacher, and I guess you can see that this will be the turning point of the story. Luckily, the movie escapes from the worn out clichéd of dangerous school filled with robbers, punks and thugs who threat colleagues and masters.What attracted me the most was the level of reality brought into the story. Absurdity is a norm in that kind of movie, and "Teachers" has plenty of that, but it stays close to the truth in some aspects, with the teachers routine in class and in the meetings with their peers during breaks. Directors putting pressure on teachers to get results favorable to them? Sure, and they do that with students too. I personally seen during my high school years a director assembling the last seniors, explaining to all of us how important the state's exam was, rudely demanding to do our best. You know what everybody did? Boycotted the exam. By that, I mean, the majority flunked those tests on purpose. Why going right if no one's gonna stay there one more year? It's all about providing big budgets to the school.The movie's a delight, humored, serious when needed but it's overloaded with baggage. It deals with problematic schools (avoiding some clichés though), some romance, the lawsuit, troubled kids (but never dangerous as portrayed in many existing realities and films out there), disenchanted masters vs. idealist types, and more. It's like Mr. Hiller wanted all and wouldn't want to settle for less, but in the end he accomplishes half way with everything he wanted because it's just too much to cover. By the time a murder takes place, it all falls out of place and the upcoming moment is an hilarious scene where the true nature of Richard Mulligan's character is revealed, cutting off any possible moment of sadness for the dead student. I think the writer and the director should settle with something: or invest in a real drama like "Lean on Me"; or be somewhat satirical; or an anarchic comedy like any other of its kind. The final message provided here isn't all that easy to accomplish, and I'm not sure if it is even possible. Teachers challenging the system is a good cause but it can only work if students, parents and the community get involved, and the administration (governments included) be willing to fight for the best cause for all. Education is the fundamental right that paves the way to all the other rights. 8/10

stevenackerman69 I first saw this film on video in the 80's. I thought it was pretty funny at times. However, I felt that was sort of a flaw because near the end it gets too serious, which we aren't really prepared for. Maybe it should have been more serious early on in depicting the school being sued by a former student. Nolte is pretty good in his role, although I have heard he was drunk a lot, which does fit his character in one scene with his buddy Roger. The cast is fine, maybe they should've just tried to be more serious and not gone for so much comedy. Also, I like to give star ratings, not a number from one to ten. Basically I give it 2.5 stars for its humor. One more thing. Liked the songs. Should try to get the soundtrack someday.

TOMASBBloodhound Teachers has a lot going for it. No question about that, yet when it finally ends, you just don't really feel like it moved you. This film is kind of like a flip side of Fast Times at Ridgemount High. That film focused primarily on the students and was mostly a comedy. Teachers is told from primarily the adults' point of view and is more serious than funny. There are some funny moments to be sure, but a lot of the more dramatic moments fall flat, or just don't feel motivated.Nick Nolte is certainly not what's missing here. He's as likable as ever as a formerly idealistic teacher who now can barely make it out of bed on a Monday morning. He lies about his line of work to bed women, he's always hung over, etc. In one scene it almost looks like he's wearing the shirt he had on in that infamous mug shot of a few years ago! He is funny at times, and when Nick Nolte says a line with passion, you believe he means it. He is a great actor. There is also plenty of talent amongst the supporting cast members. Judd Hirsch is fine as Notle's once good friend, and now just a bureaucrat vice principal. Look for Morgan Freeman in an early role as the school's attorney. A young Laura Dern is also on the scene, and looking pretty. JoBeth Williams plays Nolte's former student, now an attorney helping sue the school since her client graduated from there and still cannot read. Crispin Glover is the typical spaz character he always played, and Ralph Macchio was kind of annoying in his role.The crux of the plot deals with the pending lawsuit, and several day-to-day problems the film wished to address amongst the students. Violence, teen pregnancy, lack of learning can all be found here. The film wished to treat these problems as new and disturbing, but since the film was made, they kind of look trivial now. The Columbine tragedy, among other things, has made the problems these students face in the movie almost tame. Ultimately, the film comes up a little too short because it just tries to juggle too many characters and events. The final scene, where JoBeth Williams strips down in the hallway seems forced, since not enough time is used to build up her motivation to do something so crazy. It just doesn't work. And then the film cops out with a feel-good kind of ending that really resolves nothing and seems inappropriate. Another annoying thing about this movie is the overbearing soundtrack. It isn't bad music, but it just seems to drown out some scenes as a song will start up to remind the audience, "hey! this scene is important! Don't you hear Joe Cocker singing?" I think I also heard .38 Special, Bob Sieger, and maybe even a Freddie Mercury sans Queen song. It just sounds to me that the record company spent way too much money trying to get the soundtrack sold. Overall the film is worth about 6 of 10 stars.The Hound.

jamegero This is a movie that was well before its time. It is inspiring for novice teachers. It embodies wonderful archetypes for teachers...clearing giving fine examples of what good teaching looks like and what bad teaching looks like. We can all identify with the characters in this movie. We had teachers like each one of them. The character played by Richard Mulligan is particularly interesting and refreshing. Many of his methods, although viewed humorously in 1984, embody the qualities of outstanding teaching in the 21st century. Nolte's character also embodies sound pedagogic principles coupled with the frustrations. The issues in education are still very similar. The technologies have changed but the tenets remain the same. A study of the archetypal teachers in this movie would be a useful study in teacher training, education and professional development.