I put the spaghetti westerns on pause to watch Mr. Holland's Opus. I saw this film in 1995 in the Long beach theatre and when I came across it on cable and watched few minutes of it I realized I hardly remembered any of it. So I popped in the DVD and watched it from the beginning.
The movie tells the story of Mr. Holland, a man who becomes a music teacher to pay the bills while he works on his composing, his "real job". We watch as he begins to understand that teaching music is his true destiny, that he does for the next 30 years.
The film is enjoyable and it seems to be the perfect role for Richard Dreyfuss, but in the end it plays like a Hallmark movie of the week and I guess that is why it is so unmemorable. The film uses the turbulent 60's and 70's as a backdrop and we know this by the use of news footage between dramatic moments. But none of the issues of the outside world ever enter into the school. Aside from asking one student if he is stoned, the issues of drugs and violence never come up. It's a high school out of reality where there are no bad students.
The film is a tear-jerker and a well made one. It is a tribute to all the hard working teachers who have had generations of kids pass through their classrooms, but everything it has to offer is on the surface. There are no deeper notes to listen too.
At The Movie House rating **1/2 stars
1 comment:
Perfect review of this movie. I am trying to guess your ratings before I read them and on this I was certain the ham and fluff in the movie would have fooled you, alas it did not. your line about it being a Hallmark movie is excellent. It does earn itself the extra half star above 2 stars.
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