The first images from director Craig Zisk’s (The Big C) comedy The English Teacher have been released.  The film stars Julianne Moore as a high school English teacher whose life takes a turn when one of her favorite students (Michael Angarano) returns to his hometown as a failed playwright.  The teacher convinces her former pupil to stage the unproduced play at her school, and all does not go according to plan.  The film sounds like a nice character-centric piece, and I’m interested to see what kind of tone Zisk has settled on when a trailer comes our way.

Hit the jump to take a look at the images.  The film also stars Lily Collins, Greg Kinnear, and Nathan LaneThe English Teacher opens on May 17th.

Click to enlarge.

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Here’s the official synopsis for The English Teacher:

Linda Sinclair (Julianne Moore) is a forty-year-old unmarried high school English teacher in the small town of Kingston, Pennsylvania.  She shares a small apartment with two Siamese cats and her rich collection of great literature.  She maintains no close personal relationships aside from those she has with her favorite authors and stories. Her life is far less complicated than the dramas she devours on the page, and she likes it that way.

But Linda’s simple life turns an unexpected page when former star pupil Jason Sherwood (Michael Angarano) returns to Kingston after trying to make it as a playwright in New York.   Now in his 20s, Jason is on the verge of abandoning art, pressured by his overbearing father, Dr. Tom Sherwood (Greg Kinnear), to face reality and go to law school. Linda can’t stand the thought of Jason giving up on his dreams so she decides to mount his play – a dark, angst-ridden, ambitious work – as a Kingston High School production, with flamboyant drama teacher Carl Kapinas (Nathan Lane) directing.

As Linda, now well out of her normal comfort zone, takes further risks in life and love, the stage is set for highly comic downfall. With the play, her reputation, and her teaching career on the line, Linda finds an unlikely ally in herself. Amidst the ruins of her formerly perfect life, can she find a way to her own unique storybook ending?