My List of Top Teacher Movies
by aji_gps | created - 12 Jun 2018 | updated - 1 month ago | PublicI am a lecturer because these movies inspired me.
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1. Dead Poets Society (1989)
PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama
Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles
Votes: 546,799 | Gross: $95.86M
Good teacher.
2. Election (1999)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Romance
A high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Loren Nelson, Chris Klein
Votes: 104,590 | Gross: $14.88M
Bad teacher.
3. Notes on a Scandal (2006)
R | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her fifteen-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond a platonic friendship.
Director: Richard Eyre | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Andrew Simpson, Tom Georgeson
Votes: 84,624 | Gross: $17.51M
Bad teacher.
4. Confessions (2010)
Not Rated | 106 min | Drama, Thriller
A psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter's death.
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima | Stars: Takako Matsu, Yoshino Kimura, Masaki Okada, Yukito Nishii
Votes: 42,094
Scary teacher.
5. Freedom Writers (2007)
PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves and pursue education beyond high school.
Director: Richard LaGravenese | Stars: Hilary Swank, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn
Votes: 85,426 | Gross: $36.61M
Good teacher.
6. The Ron Clark Story (2006 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 90 min | Biography, Drama
A small-town teacher relocates to one of the country's toughest classrooms.
Director: Randa Haines | Stars: Matthew Perry, Judith Buchan, Griffin Cork, Jerry Callaghan
Votes: 12,409
Good teacher.
7. October Sky (1999)
PG | 108 min | Biography, Drama, Family
The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, Chris Owen
Votes: 98,101 | Gross: $32.48M
Good teacher.
8. The Great Debaters (2007)
PG-13 | 126 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.
Director: Denzel Washington | Stars: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Kimberly Elise, Nate Parker
Votes: 62,886 | Gross: $30.23M
Good teacher.
9. The Class (2008)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama
Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.
Director: Laurent Cantet | Stars: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel
Votes: 36,445 | Gross: $3.77M
Good teacher.
10. Half Nelson (2006)
R | 106 min | Drama
An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret.
Director: Ryan Fleck | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Shareeka Epps, Jeff Lima
Votes: 91,996 | Gross: $2.69M
Troubled teacher.
11. The Hunt (2012)
R | 115 min | Drama
A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp, Lasse Fogelstrøm
Votes: 364,701 | Gross: $0.69M
Poor teacher.
12. The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama
Radha is a down-on-her-luck NY playwright, who is desperate for a breakthrough before 40. Reinventing herself as rapper RadhaMUSPrime, she vacillates between the worlds of Hip Hop and theater in order to find her true voice.
Director: Radha Blank | Stars: Radha Blank, Peter Kim, Oswin Benjamin, Imani Lewis
Votes: 5,522
Confused teacher.
13. I Kill Giants (2017)
Not Rated | 106 min | Drama, Fantasy, Thriller
Barbara Thorson struggles through life by escaping into a fantasy life of magic and monsters.
Director: Anders Walter | Stars: Madison Wolfe, Zoe Saldana, Imogen Poots, Sydney Wade
Votes: 33,016
Good teacher.
14. Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
PG | 96 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
A preteen's life turns upside down when he befriends the new girl in school and they imagine a whole new fantasy world to escape reality.
Director: Gabor Csupo | Stars: Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb, Zooey Deschanel, Robert Patrick
Votes: 173,441 | Gross: $82.27M
(Kinda) good teacher.
15. Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
G | 155 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A shy, withdrawn English schoolteacher falls for a flashy showgirl.
Director: Herbert Ross | Stars: Peter O'Toole, Petula Clark, Michael Redgrave, George Baker
Votes: 3,837 | Gross: $2.55M
Good teacher.
16. School of Rock (2003)
PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Music
After being kicked out of his rock band, Dewey Finn becomes a substitute teacher of an uptight elementary private school, only to try and turn his class into a rock band.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Jack Black, Mike White, Joan Cusack, Adam Pascal
Votes: 331,055 | Gross: $81.26M
Good teacher.
17. The Kindergarten Teacher (2018)
R | 96 min | Drama, Thriller
A kindergarten teacher in New York becomes obsessed with one of her students who she believes is a child prodigy.
Director: Sara Colangelo | Stars: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gael García Bernal, Ato Blankson-Wood, Libya Pugh
Votes: 17,815
Bad teacher.
18. Luce (I) (2019)
R | 109 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A married couple is forced to reckon with their idealized image of their son, adopted from war-torn Eritrea, after an alarming discovery by a devoted high school teacher threatens his status as an all-star student.
Director: Julius Onah | Stars: Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Tim Roth
Votes: 15,124 | Gross: $1.78M
Bad teacher.
19. Whiplash (2014)
R | 106 min | Drama, Music
A promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.
Director: Damien Chazelle | Stars: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist, Paul Reiser
Votes: 990,781 | Gross: $13.09M
Bad teacher.
20. Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017)
PG | 89 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Two overly imaginative pranksters named George and Harold hypnotize their principal into thinking he's a ridiculously enthusiastic, incredibly dimwitted superhero named Captain Underpants.
Director: David Soren | Stars: Kevin Hart, Thomas Middleditch, Ed Helms, Nick Kroll
Votes: 32,393 | Gross: $73.92M
Strange teacher.
21. Ip Man 2 (2010)
R | 108 min | Action, Biography, Drama
Centering on Ip Man's migration to Hong Kong in 1949 as he attempts to propagate his discipline of Wing Chun martial arts.
Director: Wilson Yip | Stars: Donnie Yen, Xiaoming Huang, Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Lynn Xiong
Votes: 111,072 | Gross: $0.21M
Good teacher.
22. Finding Forrester (2000)
PG-13 | 136 min | Drama
Forrester, the author of a famous book, decides to help Jamal, a 16-year-old student, discover his writing prowess by mentoring him and enrolling him into a prestigious private school.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Sean Connery, Rob Brown, F. Murray Abraham, Anna Paquin
Votes: 89,603 | Gross: $66.40M
Good teacher.
23. Good Will Hunting (1997)
R | 126 min | Drama, Romance
Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 1,069,323 | Gross: $138.43M
Good teacher.
24. Kindergarten Cop (1990)
PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A tough cop must pose as a kindergarten teacher in order to locate a dangerous criminal's ex-wife, who may hold the key to putting him behind bars.
Director: Ivan Reitman | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Penelope Ann Miller, Pamela Reed, Linda Hunt
Votes: 162,804 | Gross: $91.46M
Good cop.
25. The Incredible Jessica James (2017)
TV-MA | 85 min | Comedy
An aspiring playwright in New York strikes up a friendship with a guy while on the rebound from a break-up.
Director: Jim Strouse | Stars: Jessica Williams, Chris O'Dowd, LaKeith Stanfield, Noël Wells
Votes: 8,738
Good teacher.
26. Lean on Me (1989)
PG-13 | 108 min | Drama
The dedicated but tyrannical Joe Clark is appointed the principal of a decaying inner-city school he is determined to improve by any and all means.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Beverly Todd, Robert Guillaume, Alan North
Votes: 22,994 | Gross: $31.91M
Good teacher.
27. Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
PG | 143 min | Drama, Music
A frustrated composer finds fulfillment as a high school music teacher.
Director: Stephen Herek | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Glenne Headly, Jay Thomas, Olympia Dukakis
Votes: 41,726 | Gross: $82.57M
Good teacher.
28. Coach Carter (2005)
PG-13 | 136 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Controversy surrounds high school basketball coach Ken Carter after he benches his entire team for breaking their academic contract with him.
Director: Thomas Carter | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Rick Gonzalez, Robert Ri'chard, Rob Brown
Votes: 172,230 | Gross: $67.26M
Good teacher.
29. To Sir, with Love (1967)
Approved | 105 min | Drama
Idealistic engineer-trainee and his experiences in teaching a group of rambunctious white high school students from the slums of London's East End.
Director: James Clavell | Stars: Sidney Poitier, Judy Geeson, Christian Roberts, Suzy Kendall
Votes: 20,436 | Gross: $42.43M
Good teacher.
30. Dangerous Minds (1995)
R | 99 min | Biography, Drama
LouAnne, a retired US marine, becomes a teacher in a Californian high school. But her mostly Latino and black students from an impoverished and racially segregated locality do not easily embrace her.
Director: John N. Smith | Stars: Michelle Pfeiffer, George Dzundza, Courtney B. Vance, Robin Bartlett
Votes: 57,104 | Gross: $84.92M
Good teacher.
31. The Chorus (2004)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Music
Pierre, a successful orchestra conductor, returns home when his mother dies. He stumbles upon an old diary and recollects the childhood school memories and his music teacher Clement Mathieu.
Director: Christophe Barratier | Stars: Gérard Jugnot, François Berléand, Jean-Baptiste Maunier, Kad Merad
Votes: 67,209 | Gross: $3.64M
Good teacher.
32. Detachment (2011)
Not Rated | 98 min | Drama
A substitute teacher who drifts from classroom to classroom finds a connection to the students and teachers during his latest assignment.
Director: Tony Kaye | Stars: Adrien Brody, Christina Hendricks, Marcia Gay Harden, Lucy Liu
Votes: 99,245 | Gross: $0.07M
Good teacher.
33. Pay It Forward (2000)
PG-13 | 123 min | Drama
A young boy attempts to make the world a better place after his teacher gives him that chance.
Director: Mimi Leder | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Haley Joel Osment, Helen Hunt, Jay Mohr
Votes: 123,915 | Gross: $33.52M
Good teacher.
34. The Browning Version (1994)
R | 97 min | Drama
On the verge of forced resignation, a strict old-fashioned teacher rethinks his life.
Director: Mike Figgis | Stars: Albert Finney, Greta Scacchi, Matthew Modine, Julian Sands
Votes: 3,579 | Gross: $0.46M
Good teacher.
35. The Karate Kid (1984)
PG | 126 min | Action, Drama, Family
A martial arts master agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Martin Kove
Votes: 244,672 | Gross: $90.82M
Good teacher.
36. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama
Charlie, a 15-year-old introvert, enters high school and is nervous about his new life. When he befriends his seniors, he learns to cope with his friend's suicide and his tumultuous past.
Director: Stephen Chbosky | Stars: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd
Votes: 548,375 | Gross: $17.74M
Good teacher.
37. McFarland, USA (2015)
PG | 129 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Jim White moves his family after losing his last job as a football coach, and at his new school he turns seven disappointing students into one of the best cross-country teams in the region.
Director: Niki Caro | Stars: Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Ramiro Rodriguez, Carlos Pratts
Votes: 42,272 | Gross: $44.47M
Good teacher.
38. Spare Parts (I) (2015)
PG-13 | 114 min | Biography, Drama, History
Four Mexican high school students form a robotics club. With no experience, 800 bucks, used car parts and a dream, this rag tag team goes up against the country's reigning robotics champion, MIT.
Director: Sean McNamara | Stars: George Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis, Carlos PenaVega, Marisa Tomei
Votes: 11,865 | Gross: $3.61M
Good teacher.
39. Remember the Titans (2000)
PG | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
In 1971 Virginia high school football was everything to the people of Alexandria. But when the school board was forced to integrate an all-black school with an all-white one, the very foundation of football's tradition was put to the test.
Director: Boaz Yakin | Stars: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst
Votes: 232,061 | Gross: $115.65M
Good teacher.
40. Negeri 5 Menara (2012)
114 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Six best friends in the Islamic Boarding School often hang out near the mosque towers. All of them made a promise under the tower that one day, they will go to places that they have been dreaming about.
Director: Affandi Abdul Rachman | Stars: Donny Alamsyah, D. Syamrizal Ardiwinata, Ence Bagus, David Chalik
Votes: 240
Good teacher.
41. Crazy Awesome Teachers (2020)
TV-14 | 101 min | Comedy, Drama
When staff salaries get stolen at his school, a reluctant new teacher sets out to recoup the money and soon discovers the joys of teaching.
Director: Sammaria Simanjuntak | Stars: Gading Marten, Boris Bokir, Kevin Ardilova, Ibnu Jamil
Votes: 522
Good teacher.
42. Laskar Pelangi (2008)
TV-G | 124 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
In the 1970s, a group of 10 students struggles with poverty and develop hopes for the future in Gantong Village on the farming and tin mining island of Belitung off the east coast of Sumatra.
Director: Riri Riza | Stars: Cut Mini Theo, Zulfanny, Ikranagara, Lukman Sardi
Votes: 2,573
Good teacher.
43. The Assignment (2010)
Drama, Family
After acceptance to a prestigious music school, Eliza's world is rocked when she discovers a shocking mystery about her family.
Director: Timothy J. Nelson | Stars: Adam Baldwin, Linsey Godfrey, Jake Thomas, French Stewart
Votes: 85
Good teacher.
44. GTO: The Movie (1999)
108 min | Comedy, Drama
A live action film version of the hit Japanese TV series staring Takashi Sorimachi as Eikichi Onizuka.
Director: Masayuki Suzuki | Stars: Takashi Sorimachi, Norika Fujiwara, Rena Tanaka, Hideyuki Kasahara
Votes: 1,182
Good teacher.
45. Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
PG-13 | 117 min | Drama
A free-thinking art professor teaches conservative 1950s Wellesley girls to question their traditional social roles.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Votes: 91,007 | Gross: $63.86M
Good teacher.
46. Bad Teacher (2011)
R | 92 min | Comedy, Romance
A lazy, incompetent middle school teacher who hates her job, her students, and her co-workers is forced to return to teaching to make enough money for breast implants after her wealthy fiancé dumps her.
Director: Jake Kasdan | Stars: Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake, Lucy Punch
Votes: 212,738 | Gross: $100.29M
Bad teacher.
47. The English Teacher (2013)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama
An English teacher's life is disrupted when a former student returns to her small town after failing as a playwright in New York.
Director: Craig Zisk | Stars: Julianne Moore, Michael Angarano, Greg Kinnear, Lily Collins
Votes: 13,114
Bad teacher.
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