''School of Life'' is a 2005

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film starring

Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian and American actor, producer and businessman. Known for starring in comedic and superhero films, he was the List of highest-paid film actors, world's second-highest-paid actor in 202 ...

about a teacher who moves to a town and shakes the old school ways up a bit. The film premiered on

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

on February 19, 2005.

Plot

At Fallbrook Central School, the annual student-elected Teacher of the Year award ceremony is held. Every year for the last 43 years, Norman Warner, fondly called ''Stormin' Norman'', has won the award. During the ceremony, he collapses and dies, saying "Take your shots" and "It takes less than death to kill a man", greatly confusing his son, Matt Warner. The burden of carrying the legacy falls to Matt, who has always lived in the shadow of his father. Determined to keep the family tradition of being Teacher of the Year alive, Matt focuses all his attention and efforts in winning the coveted title. But the new history teacher, Michael D'Angelo becomes the new student favorite, telling Matt's son to "Fall with a thunk for a woman" when he accidentally trips while watching Chase Witherspoon. He is called, even by fellow and senior teachers, "Mr. D". Young and funny, with unconventional methods of teaching and an uncanny ability to connect with his students, Mr. D. quickly wins the hearts not only of the students but also the teachers, especially the young art teacher, Ms. Davies. Now that Mr. D. is the most popular teacher on

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

, Matt feels that he has no chances of winning against Mr. D. Now obsessed with discrediting Mr. D, Matt soon forgets what it means to be a teacher. Desperate to find a flaw in "Mr Perfect", Matt follows Mr. D around town and discovers a secret the alarmingly perfect teacher is hiding: Mr. D has been diagnosed with

inoperable Operability is the ability to keep a piece of equipment, a system or a whole industrial installation in a safe and reliable functioning condition, according to pre-defined operational requirements. In a computing systems environment with multiple ...

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

and does not have long to live. Shocked by the startling discovery into realizing his own pettiness, Matt slowly changes his ways of teaching and in the process wins the hearts of his students. When Mr. D stops coming to teach because of his worsening illness, the students become depressed by the situation. Matt steps in to cheer up the student's spirits and leads the basketball team to a victory, with a special guest appearance with 30 seconds left in the game by Mr. D. Chase Witherspoon, being a cheerleader, accidentally falls, and Matt's son retells her of Mr. D's quote "Fall with a thunk", and the two share a kiss, though it was quickly interrupted by the referee. The film concludes after three years have passed and Matt's own son is now in high school, and Matt is teaching a brand new year of pupils in his life science class. He has won the Teacher of the Year for the last two years, teaching similarly to Mr. D, who won the award in the school year of 2003. The art teacher, Ms. Davies, inherited Mr. D's car and even put a Hawaiian girl on the car. The film ends with a close-up of a photo in Matt's classroom of himself, Mr. D, and the basketball team with "Michael D'Angelo 1967–2003" inscribed on the bottom of the frame.

Cast

Production

Of ''School of Life'', Reynolds has stated one of the reasons he did the film because he wanted "to explore what education could be".

Release

''School of Life'' premiered on

on February 19, 2005.

Reception

Critical reception of the film was mixed. A reviewer for ''

The News Journal ''The News Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Wilmington, Delaware. It is headquartered in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near New Castle, and is owned by Gannett. History The ancestry of the News Journal reflects the mergers of ...

'' stated that "At best, this is terrific. At its worst, it's still OK." Kurt Indvik of '' Home Media Retailing'' called it "a solidly entertaining family film about kids and adults learning to appreciate their time on Earth and each other". Andrea Beach of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

spoke positively about Reynolds' acting while criticizing aspects of the plot for being "forced", calling it "overall enjoyable, if not nearly as life-changing as it wants to be." David Nusair of ''Reel Film Reviews'' panned the film, giving it one out of five stars and calling it a "thoroughly inept, hopelessly cliched drama." Virginia Heffernan of the ''

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Broward County, an ...

'' also gave the film a mixed to negative review. Heffernan called the film "weird" saying "The only explanation for this farrago is that something ... got lost in a rewrite."

References

External links

*
School of Life on tribute.ca
{{William Dear 2005 television films 2005 films ABC Family original films 2005 comedy-drama films Canadian comedy-drama television films English-language Canadian films Films about cancer in the United States Films about entertainers Films directed by William Dear Films shot in Vancouver 2000s hood films American comedy-drama television films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films 2000s Canadian films English-language comedy-drama films English-language crime films