Summer School Review

  Have you ever been stuck in summer school before? Well, that is what the 1987 picture Summer School starring Mark Harmon is all about and more.Summer School follows Freddy Shoop played by Mark Harmon, a high school gym teacher, who is tasked with teaching remedial high school English over the summer. At first, Shoop copes with not getting to go on vacation with his twenty-one-year-old girlfriend by just going exclusively on “field trips” with his students until his boss gets wind of it. Then the fun and games are brought to a halt and he is fired unless he can get all his students to pass an upcoming important English standardized test. 

Summer School may not have a pitch-perfect script, but it is one wild ride that delivers the laughs and the emotional beats that you need to deliver a fantastically entertaining motion picture.

Shoop is in charge of a bunch of reckless remedial English students who are all reckless in the full meaning of the word. The students play gags on him, mess with him, and outright drive him crazy at times but that plays into the fun dynamic between him and them. However, he doesn’t let them get the better of him and he forges a sort of respectable bond with his students as when he is forced to close the door on the “field trips” aspect of the class he agrees to grant everybody a “favor” if they will work hard and pass the test. In order to do this, he needs serious help as he doesn’t know how to teach and he turns to Robin Bishop played by Kirstie Alley another teacher at the school. She is very attractive to Shoop and his charms don’t immediately work on her as she doesn’t approve of his methods. She does agree to help him though as she sympathizes with his change of heart to work hard to be a good teacher. Mark Harmon proves he has great range as he has had numerous dramatic roles in his career, his most famous being that of NCIS’s Gibbs and he is also capable of doing comedy in a movie such as Summer School. He looks very much at ease and he puts on the demeanor of a man who is very much enjoying life to the fullest. His romantic pursuit of Kirstie Alley and his playful and lively interactions with his students aren’t all just jokes though as they carry a real level of depth.

It would be very easy for Summer School to just be a brainless summer comedy flick with a million jokes stuffed into it and not much else but this picture attempts and succeeds at so much more. The students all have their own problems from Denise’s driving problems, Chainsaw and Dave’s lack of attention span, Rhonda’s pregnancy, and lack of feelings of self-worth, Kevin’s romantic pursuit of Rhonda, Pam’s crush on Shoop and so forth. The students all demand favors of Shoop at first and they bond with him over the time that he works to teach them and also fulfills his end of the bargain by granting them favors. The characters all develop over this time as Shoop works to mentor them and he even gives Pam who has a crush on him a place to live with him. This all goes well until Shoop is arrested after covering for Dave and Chainsaw after they were found in possession of alcohol. Following his bail thanks to Robin he gains her respect but also demands more respect from his students and after failing to get it quits. The students after feeling guilty convince him to come back and scare off his replacement in Chainsaw massacre style which makes sense if you know anything about Chainsaw and Dave’s obsession with that movie. The climax of the movie doesn’t end in an atypical style and the payoffs are plentiful. 

The stakes are high at the end of the movie as Shoop has to get the students to pass the test. Not everything goes as planned as Rhonda goes into labor and as it turns out not everybody passed the test… not even close. However, the students come to Shoop’s defense with the help of their parents as they all remark at the wonderful progress all of their students have made. The payoffs, in the end, are great as the characters are all well-rounded and have grown especially Shoop. Shoop started off as a slacker teacher and grew up to be a responsible teacher who cares about others than just himself. This is represented in a subplot where Pam is living with him and in her mind, she is playing house with him. Shoop who was hesitant at the idea at first doesn’t mind it much as he gets free maid service, but his love interest Robin points out the damage he could be doing to the young girl for his own selfish gains. Shoop tells Robin he can’t let things go any further between them and takes the stance of responsibility. The actions taken by Shoop hurt Pam but in the climax when the students convince Shoop to come back and help them pass the test Pam has conceded that she has realized she was in error and is over it or other words she has done some growing up. Shoop’s responsibility arc is also represented by his ability to get Denise to pass her driving test, Kevin the confidence he needs to get together with Rhonda, and all the other full circle subplots featuring the students. Shoop even manages to become the responsible man that Robin wants to be with ending in a high-spirited fun note. 

Summer School is very much a picture of the eighties with the glamour and light-hearted tone that is the DNA of this story, but it is also so much more. It is also a movie with dramatic payoffs to the humorous storylines and real commentary on the state of education. The theme delivers an inspiring tale to become better than what you are and to believe in yourself and Summer School does it excellently with an abundance of humor and class.

Score: B+