1st look at 'The English Teacher' with Julianne Moore, Lily Collins, and Michael Angarano

While it's kept a low profile since the cast was rounded out back in 2011, there are four very good reasons to be excited about The English Teacher: Julianne Moore, Greg Kinnear, Lily Collins, and Michael Angarano. The excellent cast has come together for what looks like a real actor's showcase, a dramatic piece that has Moore as a lonely English professor who takes an interest in a former student who returns home after failing to make it big as a playwright. Directed by TV vet Craig Zisk (New Girl), a handful of first-look photos have emerged before the film hits VOD on April 16th and theaters on May 17th. Check them out below, followed by the full synopsis....

PLOT: 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?