The interesting ideas the script presents are left by the wayside in favor of watching one woman's self-destruction. With Gyllenhaal at the center, it's always captivating, but by the end, the experience feels more voyeuristic than illuminating.
Gyllenhaal's fantastic performance makes every decision completely believable, keeping Lisa a sympathetic character even when she's methodically ruining her own life.
The Kindergarten Teacher is purposefully not a comfortable watch, but it satisfies in many ways. Not only is its central character an imperfect woman, but she also expresses her palpable rage in a strange and fascinating form of intellectual violence.
Though Gyllenhaal is all-in on this complex character study, it's in an admirably subtle way. She never once overplays Lisa's precarious emotional state, choosing instead to portray a rather ordinary woman doing some rather extraordinary things.
With piercing hilarity, The Kindergarten Teacher dares us to work out for ourselves, from moment to moment, whether Lisa is a hero, a monster, or something in between.
Gyllenhaal - who is never out of our sight - somehow makes us all her accomplices, imprisoning our sympathies even when Lisa's inappropriate behavior escalates to inexcusable.
The Kindergarten Teacher broaches the most interesting ground whenever it contrasts Lisa's concern for Jimmy's creativity with every other adult's shrugging, "gee whiz, that's cool" attitude about it.
Gyllenhaal, a master at conveying a conflicted inner life, is pitch-perfect as she allows her concern for Jimmy to slowly slide off the rails of appropriateness.
