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        I’ll be honest; The English Teacher isn’t one I was clamoring to see, but yet I didn’t entirely not want to see it either. I placed it on my “if it’s free” list. I first heard about it at the 2013 New Hampshire Film Festival. I wanted to see it then, but I couldn’t quite squeeze it in. It features Julianne Moore and Greg Kinnear, and while Julianne Moore isn’t one of my favorites, almost anything with Greg Kinnear is worth watching at least once; or so I thought.  So when it appeared at my local library I decided to give it a shot.

        The English Teacher is about Linda; a forty-something English teacher at the local high school who’s nearest and dearest friends are the characters in the books she’s always got her nose in. One evening, on her way home, she runs into a former student who gives her his play to read. She falls head over heels for the story and insists that the high school put it on as their play that year. But when the school decides that the ending is too graphic and must be rewritten, Linda finds herself in WAY over her head.

        I’m not really sure what else to say about this movie. It wasn’t super exciting, and yet it wasn’t overly boring. It wasn’t hilarious and yet it wasn’t all serious. It wasn’t bad, but wasn’t really great either. Greg Kinnear and Julianne Moore played their respective roles almost nonchalantly. Almost as if they either weren’t trying very hard, or just didn’t quite care enough. As a matter of fact, the whole movie seems to have been made this way.  It’s got some laughs and some parts that will make you cringe, but for the most part this movie is really just a way to pass an hour and a half when there’s nothing to do but watch the grass grow.

        The English Teacher is rated R, was directed by Craig Zist and stars Julianne Moore, Michael Angarano, Greg Kinnear  and Nathan Lane. It’s available non DVD, Blu Ray and Digital Download.