A TEACHER on FX and HULU

 

Jeri Jacquin

Currently on FX and HULU from writer/director Hannah Fidell is a limited series story of an educator and the line she crosses being A TEACHER.

Claire Wilson (Kate Mara) married to Matt (Ashley Zukerman) is starting a job at Westerbrook in Austin, Texas as an English teacher and meets new friend Kathryn (Marielle Scott). She seems happy to be starting something new and exciting as well as trying to start a family with Matt. Eric Walker (Nick Robinson) is a popular kid hanging out with friends Logan (Shane Harper) and Josh (Dylan Schmid) when they see Claire. Eric hangs back and they talk about what he wants from school.

Eric heads over to Logans and sees ex-girlfriend Alison (Camila Perez) but they do not have much of a chance to reconnect because the police are busting up the party. Giving a statement to Officer Nate (Adam Thompson), Eric confides that that he cannot call his Mom and asks that he call Claire to set things right. To help him refocus on school, Eric and Claire visit her alma mater and Logan’s older brother Cody entices them to party.

Dealing with the pressure of good grades and getting into college, Eric also helps single Mom Sandra (Rya Kihlstedt) with two young brothers. Needed at home, there comes a moment where he makes a decision about his family that puts his priorities in question.

Enjoying each other’s company as student and teacher, Eric crosses the line and now Claire is conflicted about what to do. Focusing on her marriage, there is tension between the couple when they learn that to have a family, they would need to explore the option of an invitro pregnancy. Adding to the tension is Claire seeing Eric at the dance and confronting him about missing their tutoring meeting.

Now, the line is about to be crossed and both of them turn to lying, deception and it will tear their worlds apart.

Mara as Claire is a woman who believes that starting over at a new school is also a new beginning for she and husband Matt. Seeing the lines becoming blurred with her student, she tries to pull back but can not seem to control herself which means she cannot control anything around her. Pulling in every direction to justify her actions, Mara gives her character moments of likeability then the reality of what is happening screams out.

Robinson as Eric is a young man who thinks he knows what he wants. Trusting in the relationship, he does not see further down the road to the ramifications or the damage that is being done. Robinson gives us a wild young man who wants what he wants as young men his age think, its what comes later that he could have never imagined.

Scott as friend Kathryn is also a teacher at Westbrook and unwittingly becomes the person that Claire needs in her life. The problem with that is friendship should be a two-way street and not filled with deception.

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A TEACHER is a story of betrayal most of all as Claire is in a position to know right from wrong and chooses a course of destructive action. Eric is a young man who trusts Claire and decides that his feelings are more important than the fact she happens to be married and his teacher.

Claire is absolutely responsible for her behavior and the broken trust but let’s not give Eric a free pass in this all. Clearly, he is old enough to know what is wrong as shown by his response after kissing Claire and once the line is crossed – everything becomes blurred.

Once the word is out, that is when the destructive path becomes blurred again. Even the face-to-face meeting between them is agonizing and gruesome to watch. As with most affairs, the consequences are far reaching past Claire and Eric and seeing the pain it causes families, friendships and the education system.

There has never been a story about a teacher and student affair that has not caused a stir and the biggest story of 1997 was teacher Mary Kay Letourneau. Having an affair and a child with her student, it opened the door to other stories of teachers breaking the trust of students and their families.

FX takes a bold risk to make the story just as writer Hannah Fidell is equally bold in directing this cast. HULU brings each episode to streaming which is a wild ride for binge watchers looking for drama, tragedy and tension.

In the end – this is what happens when a line of trust is crossed!

STRANGE BUT TRUE Will Shock and Jaw Drop

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray and Digital from director Rowan Athale, CBS Films and Lionsgate is a family in mourning until a shock knocks on their door with a story that is STRANGE BUT TRUE.

It has been five years and Philip (Nick Robinson) is a young man deal with the death of his brother Ronnie (Connor Jessup) and how it has effect mom Charlene (Amy Ryan) and estranged dad Richard (Greg Kinnear). Making things more interesting is the knock on the door by Melissa (Margaret Qualley), Ronnie's girlfriend at the time of his death.

The shock is that Melissa is very pregnant and tells Charlene and Philip that the father is Ronnie. Unable to explain why she believes it, Charlene immediately goes into freak out mode. Trying to understand why she would make up such a story, Charlene begins to research her thought process.

In the meantime, Melissa is living in a small house on the property of friends Gail (Blythe Danner) and husband Bill (Brian Cox). The couple see her as the daughter they never had and are mystified about her reason for keeping the identity of the baby's father from them.

Philip begins to friend Melissa and wants to help, especially because she could be telling the truth about the baby's paternity. Charlene reaches out to Richard trying to find answers since he is a doctor. They can't help but snap at one another because of the hurt feelings and animosity that has grown over the years between the two.

That doesn't stop Charlene from slowly ruling out scenarios but the secrets are starting to slowly unravel on their own. In the cross of it are Philip, Melissa and the truth about her baby!

Robinson as Philip is a young man dealing with the death of his brother but getting his own life twisted in the meantime. That's why he reaches out to Melissa as a connection to Ronnie by someone who cared for him just as much as he did. Robinson has a scene where he finally speaks out about his feelings and it is full of all the emotions his character has been keeping hidden, this young actor nails it.

Ryan as Charlene is full of anger for both the death of her son and the death of her marriage. Ronnie's girlfriend is the last person she wants to see let alone see her pregnant with a story about paternity. Ryan gives this character righteous anger and emotions of a mother who can't find a place for her grief. Kinnear as Richard looks for solace from his grief far from home and with someone else. He has secrets of his own and the question is how much longer can he kept them hidden?

Qualley as Melissa believes what she believes and doesn't concern herself with whether anyone trusts her word. She knows that her friendship with Gayle and Bill will give her time to have her baby and go from there. Danner as Gayle is a loving friend who never had children of her own. Friending Melissa makes her feel as if she has a chance to be motherly. Danner is always a force on the screen no matter if it's big or small. Cox as Bill loves his wife dearly and lets her know it. His concern for Melissa is ever present and sees her child as something joyful for Gayle and that's important for him. Cox is not front and center in the film but his presence is palpable.

Other cast include Janaya Stephens as Pilla, Mena Massoud as Chaz, Sarah Allen as Holly, Darryl Flatman as Vaughn and Allegra Fulton as Chantrel.

Lionsgate is a global leader in motion picture production and distribution for theatres, television, home entertainment and more. Theatre franchises include THE HUNGER GAMES, and DIVERGENT along with JOHN WICK. Now, adding this film to its 16,000 motion picture and television titles you can see everything coming soon as well as available now at http://www.lionsgate.com.

STRANGE BUT TRUE is a film that has so many twists and turns one could easily get whiplash. In the mixture of grief and anger are two stories that will merge together but not with an ending anyone would expect. This is an interesting cast that has been put together to tell the story because as each secret comes out, the reaction and next secret just muddies the waters again so well done.

So don't blink or the connections will fly by and don't make too much noise eating popcorn or you won't hear what is shocking or you'll forget you have a mouth full of popcorn because your jaw will be dropping. STRANGE BUT TRUE is reinforces what happens when a family has secrets, tells themselves lies and let anger control every move.

In the end - some things are impossible to conceive!

It is a Life of Discover with LOVE, SIMON

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to 4K UHD, Bluray/DVD and Digital from director Greg Berlanti and Fox Home Entertainment is the journey he takes to LOVE, SIMON.

Simon (Nick Robinson) is a young man counting down the days until graduation and off to college. Supported by his Dad Jack (Josh Duhamel), Mom Emily (Jennifer Garner) and sister-chef Nora (Talitha Bateman), he actually likes his life.

Adding to that are his lifelong friends Leah (Katherine Langford), Nick (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) and newer lifelong friend Abby (Alexandra Shipp), things are all good. Except one little-big thing – Simon hasn’t shared with anyone that he is gay except for one person, an online friend he calls Blue.

Blue has become an important part of Simon’s life because they seem to have the ability to share anything about themselves with no judgment or fear. Martin (Logan Miller) makes a move to upset the balance of Simon’s life. Discovering emails between he and Blue, Martin screenshots them to his phone and makes a deal with Simon.

Martin likes Abby and wants Simon to do the footwork to get them together in exchange for his silence. Immediately panicked for his friend Blue, Simon agrees. Putting the pieces into play makes him miserable knowing these are his friends’ lives.

Then moment of teenage outburst from Martin brings the house of fragile cards falling down. Simon is left to either hide from it all or just clear the path of least resistance to the life they are all meant to have – one that includes being who you really are.

He’s done keeping his story straight!

Robinson as Simon is as charming and sweet as he wants to be. Feeling the best he can under his secretive circumstances, this young actor gives a performance that is heartfelt, believable and endearing. That’s important when telling this story as the pitfalls in the life of a teenager are already demanding in this sometimes technological terror of a world we have created. Robinson’s performance unravels that with depth and I for one appreciate that.

Langford as Leah is also dealing with the perils of the heart and high school. She has known Simon practically forever (as they say) and wants only what is best for him, even if he screws up now and then. Shipp as Abby is the outgoing new girl of their group and the first to know Simon’s secret.

Miller as Martin is the guy who doesn’t really understand how friendships work but clearly knows how blackmail does! This character is the one who wants to just be part of something special but goes about it the wrong way. Lendeborg Jr. as Nick is dealing with trying to hook up a love life of his own and gets in the cross hairs of Simon’s inability to get away from Martin’s scheme.

Garner as Emily is the fun Mom who sees her son has something going on. Trying to do the ‘give him space’ thing, it all finally makes sense to her which doesn’t stop her from being just as supportive. Duhamel as Jack is the Dad who struggles with ‘not seeing it’ and failing as a father for it and embraces his son as he always has.

Shout out to Rothwell as Ms. Albright as the high school drama teacher! I swear I had the same drama teacher in Junior High so thank you for reminding me that Ms. Spencer was the best and the side comments are hilariously familiar.

Other cast includes: Tony Hale as Mr. Worth, Natasha Rothwell as Ms. Albright, Miles Heizer as Cal, Joey Pollari as Lyle, Drew Starkey as Garrett and Clark Moore as Ethan.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment brings award-winning global product and new entertainment to DVD, Bluray, and Digital HD. There amazing collection offers fans an opportunity to expand their own home libraries with the best films. To discover what other titles they have please visit www.fox.com.

The Bluray and DVD Special Features include Deleted Scenes, The Adaptation, The Squad, #FirstLoveStoryContestWinner, Dear Georgia, Dear Atlanta, Audio Commentary by Director Greg Berlanti, Producer Isaac Klausner and Co-Screenwriter Isaac Aptaker and Gallery.

LOVE, SIMON is a story definitely from the heart and if you don’t feel every second of it then you need a chisel to get it out of its stone casing! This is a film about teenagers doing what teenagers do – struggle to know who they are and how to fit in. What makes this story relatable is that we have all been there in some form if you take a second to remember.

Of course it is harder to have secrets in high school with social media poking into every aspect of someone’s life. There isn’t a platform where one wrong word won’t make it around the planet faster than finding out it’s been posted. It is also a technological world where bullying has found another platform. Simon takes the higher ground in a way that is breath taking.

This film should be shown in junior and senior high schools as a teaching tool! Yes this is a story of a young man’s journey finding acceptance for his secret, but it’s also clearly a story of realizing that each of these kids has something they are afraid for anyone to know.

LOVE, SIMON is brilliantly written, the cast is stellar and the ending is how it should be – honest, upfront and a trip to Starbucks for a day on the road.

In the end – everyone deserves a great love story!