Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 38

33 Monday. Oct. 8, 1984 Philadelphia Daily New 5l 1 Teaches KlaDSDnnirag' f1 Nick Nolte (left), Judd Hirsch and Jobeth Williams star in "Teachers" Arthur Hiller has directed the commotion in a bargain-basement Robert Altman style, a style that Hiller used more than a decade ago for Paddy Chayefsky's "The Hospital," which "Teachers" resembles. We get overlapping dialogue, people walking in front of the camera while two characters talk, and veritable subplots taking place behind them. Hiller behaves as if this technique is fresh even though it's been done to death, most recently on TV's "Hill Street Blues." When will filmmakers ever learn? This is theatricality, not reality.

Anyone who has had even only a fleeting experience in a contempo "Teachers." A comedy-drama starring Nick Nolte, Jobeth Williams, Judd Hirsch and Ralph Macchio. Directed by Arthur Killer prom a screenplay by W.R. McKinney. Photographed by David Welch. Edited by Don Zimmerman.

Running Time: 106 minutes. A United ArtistsM.G.M. release. In area theaters. By JOE BALTAKE Daily News Movie Reviewer emrmhe issue isnt education, it's a money," Nick Nolte tells JoBeth Williams in "Teachers." And he's right.

"Teachers," based on the unpleasant idea that our modern school system is convoluted with problems that no one is willing to face, let alone solve, casts Williams as Lisa Ham- MOVIE REVIEW mond, an idealistic lawyer whose clients are suing an Ohio school, John F. Kennedy High, because it graduated their son without teaching him how to read and write. Lisa herself is a graduate of Kennedy, and her current stint there brings back a flood of memories of the school in better times as well as a renewed "crush" on Mr. Jurel, Alex Jural, the burned-out social studies instructor played by Nolte. Lisa truly believes that the problem is illiteracy, as well as the bureaucracy, hallway guards, locked doors, assorted physical attacks and drug abuse that litter an average day at J.F.K.

But that's not what her case is about. It's not about solving problems; it's about making a quick buck and about passing the buck. With this premise and with these leading players laying it out for us, "Teachers" cant help being a friendly, lively and often exceedingly funny social observation. The problem is, you just can't take it seriously. Think back to when you were in school.

What do you remember? The tough classes and those teachers who were demanding and unbending, right? Who remembers the classes that were a cinch? They didn't make an impression on us because we learned nothing. And who remembers the nice teachers? No one has any respect or regard for "nice." It's the bastards we remember. And so goes "Teachers." It's too nice, too comfortable, to make any sort of impact. It's tangy, but it lacks the bite that comes with bitterness. It is a low comedy about the foul ups, neglect and bureaucratic impersonality of big-city schools that offers a pat ending but no solutions.

In other words, you can enjoy this film, but dont expect any revelations or answers. It asks us to laugh off a serious situation. "Teachers" epitomizes the problem it depicts: It teaches nothing. And there's another problem here the execution. 4 i'Tlr FOR ONE NIGHT ONLVI HENNY YOUNGMAN BEYcEXHc559APY BROADWAY TONIGHT Extended! Now thru Nov.

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A powerful film with out-of-this-world ensemble acting." ABC-TV, GOOD If OBBXaTQ AMZHICA (HIGHEST RATING "PHIIADEIPHIA INQUIRER A Soldier's Story, PG THE CORNER OF 19TH 6 CHESTNUT 972-0538 PRESENTED IN 4-CHANNEL STEREOPHONIC SOUND (AT SAM'S PLACE) YOUR CHOICE OF FEATURE TIMES AT SAM'S PLACE 100, 1:50, 2:50, 3:40, 4:40, 5:30, 6:30, 7:20, 1:20, 9:30, 10:15 S3.SOTILL 1 PM PS? ERIC TWIN ARDMORE lone aster Ave. ERIC TWIN BAEDERWOOO Boederwood Shpg. Or. Rt. 61 1 to Fairway ERIC 4 FE ASTER VILLE Street Rd.

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73 130 Nr. Tac. PaL Br. DELAWARE ERIC TRI-STATE MALL Noomoni Ctoyroont You need DAILY NEWS CLASSIFIED 751-0400 C' 1 rary high school, a hospital emergency room or a police headquarters won't recognize the rock-concert atmosphere that permeates "Teachers," "The Hosptial" or "Hill Street Blues." It's fake. Nor will you recognize any of the "zany" characters that run wild through these plots.

Here, we get a collection of them the school psychologist who has a loud anxiety attack in the film's first scene (it's played by an actress who gives the worst performance that I've ever seen in a major film); a madman (Richard Mulligan) who poses as a substitute teacher and turns out to be J.F.K.'s most creative teacher; a wimpy teacher (Allen Garfield) whom all the students abuse and terrify; a comatose teacher (Royal Dano) who dies during his day's first class (something no one notices until the end of the day), and a gym teacher (Art Metrano) who impregnates one of the students (the excellent Laura Dern, daughter of Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd). Hiller directs these walking, talking gags as if he were directing traffic, rather than a film. Meanwhile, he gives short shrift to the film's quiet sequences the scenes between Nolte and Williams and between Nolte and Ralph Macchio (who plays an illiterate punk) scenes that should give "Teachers" its credibility and some meaning. These moments play like antique dramaturgy instead and are made' subservient to the fake moments like when Williams strips off her clothes and runs down the high school halls to make a point to Nolte. Nolte has never been better and has never looked worse.

We believe in him as a rumbled iness-of-a-teach-er, we believe in the dedication that's supposed to be buried beneath the mess. However, he has another one of his incredible wake-up scenes in which he awakens with a beautiful woman beside him. We think, what is this looker doing with this slob? Macchio and Williams bring their natural charms to their roles and Judd Hirsch is never less than real as.