TV Review: “Gym Teacher: The Movie”
Nickelodeon’s TV flick offers fun for all, especially adults
By Tesa Nauman

Poor Dave Stewie. He blew his big chance to win a medal at the Seoul Olympics. Now, 20 years later, he’s a popular — and highly competitive — gym teacher at Hamm Lake Middle School who has a chance to be Gym Teacher of the Year by entering his class into a national competition. However, there’s a problem. The problem takes the nerdy form of Roland Waffle, the school’s newest gym student. Unfortunately for Roland — and Stewie — the kid has all the natural grace of an albatross.

Additionally, Stewie has fallen for the school’s new English teacher. However, that’s not good news for the school’s principal, Abby Hoffman, who has a not-so-secret crush on the gym teacher.

Can Stewie’s class win their competition? Will Stewie overcome his insecurities about his Olympic loss (seen in a funny flashback)? Will Roland ever be able to climb more than 3 inches up a rope?

The answers to those questions . . . aren’t really important.

What is important is that watching “Gym Teacher: The Movie” is a fun way to spend an evening. Airing on Nickelodeon, it’s obviously family friendly, but it’s not just for kids. There’s a lot of humor whose sophistication is a notch above that of your typical kid’s flick. Thus, the story, while totally predictable, does have many funny moments thanks to the writers (brothers Daniel and Steven Altiere), director Paul Dinello (Strangers with Candy, The Colbert Report) and a great cast.

Heading up the cast is Christopher Meloni, who plays Det. Elliot Stabler on NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” a character who has rage issues and who rarely even cracks a smile. Viewers will have a treat seeing his comedic side take center stage as the gym teacher who seeks redemption.

Meloni is joined by Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy) as Principal Hoffman and Nathan Kress (iCarly) as the uncoordinated Roland. Most people know Sedaris from her role of Jerri Blank, the 46-year-old crack whore/high school student on the series Strangers with Candy. The versatile Sedaris is very funny as the principal who wants Stewie. Fifteen-year-old Kress, best known to Nickelodeon audiences as Freddie in iCarly, turns in a fine performance as the geeky kid upon whose skinny shoulders redemption for Stewie rests.

Also turning in a very funny performance is David Alan Grier (In Living Color) as Stewie’s nemesis Shelly Bragg, a coach at a competing prep school who’d love nothing more than to see Stewie fail. Grier brings his patented comedic intensity to the project, making him the movie’s villain you love to hate.

There also are some nice cameos by former Olympian Bruce Jenner and Saturday Night Live alum Chris Kattan, who plays an ESPN-like sportscaster.

“Gym Teacher: The Movie” has laughs for kids, but adults likely will enjoy it, too. I give it 3 gym shorts out of 5.

“Gym Teacher” premiers on Nickelodeon this Friday at 8 p.m. EST. To see film clips and more information, go to http://www.nickatnite.com/shows/gym_teacher/index.jhtml.