The film revolves around an English teacher, who begins to face a tragic fate when a former student returns to her small town. It seems that this student was a failure as a playwright in New York.
The report card for low-key high school comedy The English Teacher would read something like this: Weak effort; this student is too easily distracted, fails to follow through and turns in unfinished work.
In a perfect encapsulation of form and content, The English Teacher tells a story of an artist who reluctantly adds a happy ending to his play while the movie itself forces a happy ending into a story that is laced with underlying sadness.
In short, The English Teacher is nothing fancy. It's a compromise made in the interest of good taste, and while that may not stand the test of time, it proves easy in the moment.
Pleasant is the perfect word with which to describe The English Teacher, an ingratiating little comedy that aims to please and succeeds at its modest goal.
