Theme Song: It’s hard to grasp the amount of ‘80s money spent on securing artists for this soundtrack. Seriously, how much did exclusive tracks from Bob Seger, .38 Special, Joe Cocker, Night Ranger, The Motels, and Freddy Mercury cost in 1984? And that doesn’t even take into account the marketing. No less than three of these songs were released as singles commercially!
The soundtrack must have had its own LLC, because even the three (THREE!!!!) single releases followed the same design standards as the main soundtrack release. It’s insanity! The only band phoning it in was ZZ Top, who simply submitted a mediocre live version of “Cheap Sunglasses.”
Interesting Dated References: People caring about the condition of inner city schools.
Best Line: Said by teacher Alex Jurel (Nick Nolte) in reference to a student — “Bright kid, great ass.”
Social Context: Largely because of Reagan-era boomer-guilt, dramatic movies about the struggles of inner-city schools reached their peak in the ‘80s. Teachers, though early in the wave of these films, falls a little flat when put next to mainstays, such as Stand and Deliver and Lean On Me.
Summary: Nick Nolte (actually hungover) plays Jurel as a freewheeling and hungover teacher that the kids look up to. When a former student files a lawsuit alleging the school let him graduate without knowing how to read, tensions mount, and an investigation begins.
Luckily for Nolte, the investigation is led by former student Lisa (JoBeth Williams, Poltergeist, Kramer Vs. Kramer), who is unable to resist the generally-disheveled Nolte, and immediately starts sleeping with him.
Teachers aims high with multiple storylines and lots of dialogue (think M.A.S.H, Network, or Nashville), but treats heavier subjects (abortion, racism, guns) too cursory to have any impact.
By the end it devolves into white saviour platitude, with a crowd of multi-ethnic students chanting support as Nolte, bucking the system, refuses to leave the school amid multiple scandals. The filmakers showed restraint, though, and stopped short of a freeze-frame ending, but they did go right into a Bob Seger song (and an onscreen advertisement for the soundtrack in the fucking film!?!?), which is maybe worse than a freeze frame?
Worth Mentioning:
– In one of the more outlandish concepts, Richard Mulligan (Meatballs Part II and the grandmother-loved Golden Girls spin-off, Empty Nest) plays a newly-released schizophrenic who ends up teaching history at the school as a substitute teacher. Presumably written as comic relief, the entire storyline seems out of place.
– Tons of ‘80s star power here: Judd Hirsh as the superintendent trying to make the best of things, Ralph Macchio (immediately post-Karate Kid) as a troubled youth, Morgan Freeman as concerned legal council, Laura Dern as a teacher-impregnated student in need of a ‘bortion, and even Crispin Glover essentially playing some type of prequel to Layne from Rivers Edge.
– There’s a very odd scene in which JoBeth Williams strips totally nude in front of students in an effort to convince Nolte into not resigning. This attempt is not successful, but five minutes later when the students start chanting for him to stay, he is persuaded.
– Directed by Arthur Hiller, who directed a whole bunch of films, including Love Story and The Hospital.
Poster and Box Art: Most advertising campaign materials for Teachers utilized a nice design concept from Seiniger Advertising, who were responsible for some iconic work in the ‘70s/’80s, most notably Jaws, and this poster for Teachers definitely hits that mark.
If you’d like to read more about Seiniger and their process for coming up with design concepts, check out this very HTML series of articles.
Also, the Fox series Boston Public either aped or paid homage to this concept with their initial ad campaign:
Availability: Restored BluRay and streaming on a few services.