StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Maynard Handley I found the storyline of this movie appealing (I like works of art that are happy to admit some people enjoy their comfortable routine lives and do not crave "excitement" and "adventure"). Julianne Moore was as gorgeous as always, and portrayed her character's range of experiences well. BUT Two big flaws:The first flaw comes towards the end of the movie. We've built up this fraught and tense situation where Ms Sullivan has burned all her bridges. She returns to school, mocked by the students and tremendously embarrassed. We then basically jump forward three weeks to a totally different social environment where she appears to be once-again respected and integrated into the school. WTF? How did that happen? The answer we get is a complete cop-out. It's hinted that some combination of "grin and bear it" on her part and the awesome ending she wrote for the play did the job, but, seriously, that is not how the world works. Teenagers are freaking monsters, not to forget that she earned (for good reason) the enmity of one of them whom she tried to destroy. That's all not going to go away, and pretending that it does destroys any pretense the movie has to somehow commenting on life.The second flaw is not as serious, but the voice-over in the last few minutes is ham-fisted as all heck. It's totally unnecessary, totally idiotic. Throughout the movie (including commentary about the play) we've been told about nuance, about filling in the blanks, about the audience making inferences, then we get this stupidity!

TxMike I came across this movie on Netflix streaming movies. It is quite quirky, my wife almost abandoned it after 30 minutes but we both persisted. I enjoyed it, part comedy and part drama, perhaps it is best described as a semi-dark comedy in the British style.In fact throughout the movie there is a periodic narration, representing the English teacher's thoughts, but in a British accent, provided by Fiona Shaw. I took that to mean the English teacher's inner voice was a British voice, as if she were actually inside an older British story.Julianne Moore is very good as Linda Sinclair, the English teacher in this Pennsylvania community. In a funny early scene she is at a bank ATM at night and is approached by what appears to be a stranger, and as he gets close she pepper sprays him in the eyes. It turns out to be a former student who recognized her and was coming to say hello.That former student turns out to be Michael Angarano as Jason Sherwood who had graduated 6 years earlier, and had gone on to college and had tried making it as a writer in New York. But unable to get any interest in producing his play, was back home, living with dad, and contemplating law school.His dad is Greg Kinnear as Dr. Tom Sherwood. Long story short, Ms Sinclair gets the school administration to agree to perform Jason's play, but it does not go without a hitch. And in the process Ms Sinclaire gets some unwelcome publicity. But overall it is a fun romp. Very cute Lily Collins is Halle Anderson, one of the students in the play.SPOILERS: Ms Sinclaire is a spinster lady, and while she longs for a nice guy just never seems to meet one. One day, when Jason is in her classroom right after school ends for the day, they kiss, they get excited, they have sex on her desk. In a turnabout this gets out, she is fired, worse she is shamed, while they try to perform the play. In the end they do, it is a big hit, Jason gets renewed confidence, and his dad, the doctor, asks Ms Sinclaire out for a date. Whimsical, but fun.

jayraskin I was captivated by this movie and laughed from beginning to end.I do not get the people who did not like this movie. They say nasty things and say nothing about the movie. Did any of them even watch the movie? They all deserve an "F". Yes, everybody who hates this movie gets an "F" in good taste and an "F" in life. Now, go back to High School and learn what you didn't learn when you first attended.For the rest of us, especially those of us in the teaching profession, this is a gem. Not since Neil Simon retired have we had such sharply drawn characters and such sweet and gentle self mocking humor. It is both English teaching and High School theater that gets gently ridiculed. Yet, underneath the humor there is a real understanding of the importance of both subjects in our curriculum.Any humanist, Jane Austin fan, Julianne Moore fan or theater lover will appreciate this movie. Go for it.

dansview The romantic loner/spinster woman-lost-in-a-book-theme has been done before. I don't object to it being done again, but this clunker seemed unsure of what it wanted to say and do. It was clearly a comedy, but it tried unsuccessfully to shed some light on deeper themes. It starts with an awkward English female narrator, which I suppose is meant to represent the character's inner world of English literature.But more often than not, a narrator is just a cheap device to take the place of character development.Long story short, a repressed high school English teacher runs into her former student who wrote a play. He's 25 now and couldn't get his play produced. She gets the high school to put on his play. Flat, predictable hijinks ensue. The only thing that redeemed this piece of talentless trash was the familiar yet always pleasing Nathan Lane depiction of a lovable gay.Julianne Moore is probably past the 45 she is playing.Greg Kinnear delivers an adequate performance, but deserves much better material. Many of us think we are destined for some kind of artistic life of expression, when in reality we just need to get a job. The kid in this film was probably not destined to be a writer or a lawyer like his dad wanted him to be. The big question is how long to nurse your dream.I did not watch the last portion of this film. I can guess the outcome more or less, but I really don't care. If you're going to do a comedy, make it funny or at least cute.If it's a drama make it compelling. But this one was none of the above.