Summer School

Summer School (1987)

  • 61% of critics liked it
    (28 reviews)

  • 54% of users liked it
    (27,516 ratings)

On the eve of his Hawaiian vacation, irresponsible high school teacher Freddy Shoop (Mark Harmon) is forced into teaching a summer-school class. His students are all malcontents and layabouts with the standard repertoire of teenaged hang-ups and hostilities (two of the kids, who can't see enough… More

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PG-13,
Directed By
Written By
Jeff Franklin
Genres
Comedy
In Theaters
Jul 22, 1987 Wide
Paramount Home Video

Critic Reviews

  • Geoff Andrew, Time Out

    A bit bland compared to Reiner's Steve Martin comedies, but engagingly played.

  • Janet Maslin, New York Times

    Mr. Harmon has an easygoing attractiveness, but neither he nor anyone else seems comfortable with the film's antic pace. And for all its busyness, this comedy has no real focus, ricocheting from character to character with wearying abandon.

  • Desson Thomson, Washington Post

    Here are some of Summer School's favorite things: idiocy, illiteracy, irresponsibility, drunkenness, dumbness and debauchery. Piqued?

  • Rita Kempley, Washington Post

    The moral is a sweet one: If you try, you never fail. The world is graded on a curve.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    A comedy so listless, leisurely and unspirited that it was an act of the will for me to care about it, even while I was watching it.

Read all 12 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Red L


    I passed this while channel skipping on TV, and it looked like a young Jethro Gibbs. Sure enough Gibbs (Mark Harmon) - 25 years younger - is the main actor in this movie about a phys-ed teacher getting through to a bunch of remedial students.

  • ♥˩ƳИИ &


    Cast: Mark Harmon, Kirstie Alley, Robin Thomas, Patrick Labyorteaux, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Dean Cameron, Gary Riley, Kelly Jo Minter, Richard Steven Horvitz, Fabiana Udenio, Francis X. McCarthy, Tom Troupe, Lucy Lee Flippin, Ken Olandt, Shawnee Smith Director: Carl Reiner Summary:… More

  • AJ V


    Yes this is a silly, predictable, teen/romance/school comedy, but it's just so much fun, I couldn't resist it's charms. I guess what I really need is a sensitive, intelligent guy who can rollerskate. Anyway, I really enjoyed this movie, and I highly recommend it if… More

  • Nani V


    This is one of those movies that would come on tv once in a while. I always enjoyed it everytime too.

  • Cassie H


    FUNNY,AND IT HAS GOOD MESSAGES ABOUT NOT GIVING UP. THIS MOVIE IS AWESOME!!!! You also had to love Chainsaw and Dave. They were AWESOME!!!

Read all 9 featured audience ratings

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