Such a frustrating disappointment

Strong and Moving!

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I am an emeritus professor at a Big Ten University in Columbus, Ohio (for the non-US based readers: this is one of the best known universities in the US), so I have plenty of experience with academic life in general, and hiring/tenure processes in particular. It was very amusing to see that the movie's description of academic life was so wrong that not even the opposite would have been anywhere nearby the truth. It was so wrong that I am sure it was deliberate. Nevertheless, this was a very entertaining movie. I had a good time watching it.I strongly recommend it to my academic colleagues because it is fun to see how others imagine academic life.BTW, e.g., "The Big Bang Theory" is not better either in showing academic life; still it is a fabulously superb sitcom.P.S. I wonder if the reason that movies pretending to show the intricacies of academic life end up painting a false picture only because showing the actual reality would be simply too boring and disappointing for the "people on the street".

Smart little film about a college teacher (Wilson) facing tenure review. He's a great teacher but has barely been published and is not enough of a politician. Along comes a new assistant professor (Mol) from Yale of all places, and now he's facing competition. His best buddy, a slightly deranged anthropology teacher (Koechner), convinces him to sabotage the new arrival at every turn. Problem is, the new arrival is unsure of herself and the two "competitors" become friends. Wilson is perfect in his role, and Koechner is wonderfully daffy as a Sasquatch worshiper. Mol is pretty, but truthfully isn't given that much to do. There's a nice ongoing bit about Wilson's character and his aging dad (Gunton), who unhappily resides in a nursing home. Filmed on the campus of Bryn Mawr. Very relaxed, nothing artificial, nothing forced, to the very end.

I was actually pleasantly surprised. For some reason, I find many comedies produced lately virtually painful to watch. I was wondering if this movie would be the same... I found it to be completely refreshing; great cast, quirky characters. May be not so over-the-top impressive characters but the main characters were very likable. Luke Wilson seems like a decent actor, in this movie I felt that I was seeing a person, so I felt more connected to his role than some of his other roles. I loved the "Bigfoot" characters. And I liked the ending, too-- good but not too good to be true. I also like to comment on the theme, getting tenure. I am a university assistant professor and the process is all that and more. It is a nerve-racking process. I will stop here because there is too much detail that goes into this, which would be of no interest to the general reader. The movie did do a decent job of showing some aspects of the system yet with a great sense of humor.

The lonely professor Charlie Thurber (Luke Wilson) is seeking to grant tenure in the Grey College. Charlie is loved by his students but has not published any article for a long time. His best friend is the anthropologist Jay Hadley (David Koechner) that researches evidences of the existence of the Sasquatch and his father was interned by his sister in an expensive rest home. When the Dean Leakey (William Bogert) hires the Yale's English Professor Elaine Grasso (Gretchen Mol), Charlie is threatened by the competition for tenure and Jay declares Elaine as their enemy and sabotages her in school. Charlie tries to publish a work but has difficulties. "Tenure" is an unfunny comedy with pathetic lead characters: Charlie is a complete imbecile, but a good teacher and Jay is an unscrupulous crackers. Their attitudes against the lovely Elaine are stupid, unethical and absolutely inadequate for college professors and after 89 minutes running time, I have not laughed any time. I found stranger how a viewer could "love" this flick and I discover that there are many fake reviews in IMDb of people with only one review promoting this flick to lure the readers. My vote is three.Title (Brazil): "Um Professor em Apuros" ("A Teacher in Trouble")