Gym Teacher: The Movie

Mr. Dinello and the screenwriters, the brothers Steven and Daniel Altiere, have found an amiable and amusing middle ground between adult slacker comedy and frenetic children’s farce.

Any time things threaten to get maudlin, the movie takes pains to poke fun at itself, in a way that even a gentle eighth-grader could appreciate.

The only real downside of Gym Teacher is that it runs about twice as long as its material.

At the very least the rather admirable cast should be allowed a do-over with a script that doesn't confuse petulance with wit or meanness with misdirection.