The ease and affordability of shooting movies on video has created new life for the art of improvisation. It’s not just for Christopher Guest anymore.
Guest and his comics are expert at what they do, and perhaps a background in improv comedy is the best preparation for improvising on film — even if your film isn’t a straight comedy.
As it happens, the creators of “Chalk,” a film about high-school teachers, do have that kind of background. Director Mike Akel and his co-writer (and actor) Chris Mass have done sketch comedy. They’ve also been teachers.
That’s probably where the (sometimes agonizing) detail comes from, as we witness the ups and downs of four teachers at Harrison High. Mass plays a gung-ho instructor in his third year, a hale-and-hearty guy who badly craves the Teacher of the Year award.
The gym teacher (Janelle Schremmer) is just a bit too intense about the rules. Plus, she suspects that everybody thinks she’s a lesbian, because she’s a gym teacher with short hair.
Her relationship with close friend (Shannon Haragan) becomes strained as the school year goes on, because the latter has become a vice-principal — and things look different from the management side of things.
Most affectingly, there’s a first-year teacher (Troy Schremmer) who obviously is not suited for teaching teenagers. He loses control right away, and can’t seem to reel the class back in. In one incisive scene, he meets with a student’s mother, and she immediately suggests that his indecisive manner and habit of not making eye contact might possibly be a sign of weakness to his students.
His story will ring true if you ever had an outmatched teacher. I was instantly reminded of a teacher I had for a junior-year religion class who seemed to be having a breakdown as we progressed through an increasingly chaotic year. Schremmer (he’s married in real life to his co-star) absolutely nails the type.
“Chalk” has these touches, although the film is so small, so mild, that it’s a little hard to recommend it as a night out at the movies. The people behind it have an observational eye, though, and the actors deserve more notice.
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