''The Home Teachers'' is a 2004

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

written by

John Moyer John Robert Moyer (born November 30, 1973) is an American musician, best known as the bassist for the heavy metal band Disturbed. After the demise of his previous band, The Union Underground, Moyer took over for previous Disturbed bassist S ...

and directed by Kurt Hale. ''The Home Teachers'' is a comedy distributed by

Halestorm Entertainment Halestorm Entertainment was a film production and distribution company based in Orem, Utah. It was founded in January 2001 by Kurt Hale and Dave Hunter, who were both film majors at Brigham Young University. Halestorm films were largely create ...

and intended for LDS audiences, or members of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

Plot

Greg Blazer is a slothful, lazy

Latter-day Saint The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded b ...

who loves football so much that he wears football jerseys under his church clothes. Much to his dismay, Greg's Sunday-football-watching plans are interrupted by Nelson Parker, a faithful, nerdy, stalwart Latter-day Saint who is Greg's new

home teaching Ministering is the term for Christian service given to fellow congregants, known as "ward members," within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Prior to April 1, 2018, a somewhat similar program within the church was ter ...

companion. Together, the two men set out to complete their assignment, beginning a journey of slapstick comedy and hijinks that includes Greg falling through a ceiling while wearing a wedding dress, dressing up like a deer, and accidentally dancing with a dead grandfather at his own funeral.

Background

After the successful distribution of two films intended for LDS audiences, Halestorm Entertainment made the decision to produce and distribute ''The Home Teachers'', based on a script by John Moyer. The genesis of the film grew from a single idea Moyer had of Birkeland falling through a ceiling, and he built a script around it. That scene developed into a wedding-dress-clad Birkeland falling through the ceiling onto a fully-set kitchen table, followed by a toilet. Moyer then wrote many other scenes involving similar slapstick humor and developed them into a story.

Reception

''The Home Teachers'' was a critical and

box office disappointment A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...

. Critics lambasted its use of slapstick humor and criticized what they perceived as a heavy-handed plot. The film also suffered from direct comparisons to ''

Tommy Boy ''Tommy Boy'' is a 1995 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Segal, written by Bonnie and Terry Turner, produced by Lorne Michaels, and starring soon-to-be former ''Saturday Night Live'' castmates and close friends Chris Farley and D ...

'', a successful 1995 film starring

Chris Farley Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. He was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' for fiv ...

, and

David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and podcaster. His comedic style, in both his stand-up material and acting roles, relies heavily on sarcasm and self-deprecation. For his roles on television, Spade h ...

, and '' Planes, Trains & Automobiles'', a 1987 film directed by

John Hughes John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...

. Many critics felt that ''The Home Teachers'' borrowed too much from these films, a concern one professional critic referred to as "verging on comedic plagiarism". ''The Home Teachers'' was the third film produced and distributed by Halestorm Entertainment. Halestorm's first two films, ''

The Singles Ward ''The Singles Ward'' film series consists of two low-budget Mormon cinema, Mormon Comedy film, comedies based on original characters, co-written by Kurt Hale and John Moyer (comedian, screenwriter), John Moyer. The overall premise centers around ...

'' and '' The R.M.'', grossed $1,250,798 and $1,111,615 at the box office, respectively. Such similar box office grosses indicated a trend for Halestorm releases. However, ''The Home Teachers'', despite being produced and distributed by the same source, grossed $196,123 during its theatrical run. It was less than 16% the gross of ''The Singles Ward'' and the lowest grossing LDS comedy of its time."Competing Business Models in Mormon Cinema," by Eric Samuelson. ''BYU Studies'', Volume 46, Number 2, p.225

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Home Teachers 2004 comedy films 2004 films Halestorm Entertainment films 2000s English-language films