ReviewCrazy Awesome Teachers movie review: Netflix Indonesian comedy is not the inspirational classroom drama you expect
- A substitute teacher who is suspected of making off with his colleagues’ salaries sets out to clear his name and recover the cash in this Indonesian comedy
- Gading Marten, as the teacher under suspicion, shows his comedy chops, but the film’s real star is Faradina Mufti as school administrator and his love interest
2.5/5 stars
The transformative power of the classroom is a frequently used trope in cinema – showing wayward students can better themselves, or that flawed or disillusioned protagonists can be redeemed through meaningful instruction.
In Indonesian director Sammaria Simanjuntak’s Crazy Awesome Teachers, now streaming on Netflix, a reluctant substitute instructor at a small village high school learns the value of his profession, albeit through decidedly questionable means.
Taat (Gading Marten) loves money but hates teachers, which is problematic because he’s broke and his father (Arswendi Nasution) is the local principal. After failing to make a success of himself in the city, he returns home, and through a tangle of largely irrelevant contrivances, becomes the new substitute teacher at his father’s school, despite having no formal qualifications.
When Taat’s arrival coincides with the theft of the money to pay teachers’ salaries, he immediately falls under the suspicion of his colleagues, not least feisty office administrator M. Rahayu (Faradina Mufti). His subsequent efforts to clear his name and retrieve the cash lead to comedic high-jinks that teach him about responsibility.
Considering the elaborate set-up, Taat’s redemption has little to do with reconciling with his father, or imparting wisdom to his students, who remain largely anonymous throughout the film. That the main characters are teachers is also largely irrelevant. Taat looks for validation by wooing his attractive co-worker and getting his hands on the missing money.