Mr. Holland's Opus A Film Review By Michael Redman Copyright 1996 By Michael Redman
**** (out of ****)
For the first several minutes of this film, it seems as if it's going to be another "Stand And Deliver" or "Up The Down Staircase" or "To Sir With Love" or any one of the other zillions of `teacher turns on disillusioned students" movies. And for the first few minutes it is, but then it turns into something else.
Richard Dreyfuss is playing the Holiday Inn circuit, but decides to teach high school because the monetary rewards of musicianship leave something to be desired. His lack of enthusiasm for his teaching career just about equals the kids' level of excitement for music appreciation. No one wants to be there.
Dreyfuss connects with the students by finding the common interest of popular music. Then he helps a girl transcend her horrible playing. Slowly it dawns on him that there may be something to teaching besides the bucks. He also discovers that his idea of composing in his spare time is a dream as the demands of his job and caring for his deaf son overwhelm any possibility of time that is spare.
There are a few cliches in the movie. When the teacher's marriage grows tedious, his relationship with the talented young high school honey is inevitable. The students' instant recognition that the subject matter is cool is in every teacher movie ever made. But the scenes, familiar as they are to the audience, ring true.
The film spans several decades as Dreyfuss changes the lives of his students but can't do his own work or relate to his son. The make-up job is so convincing that it's hard to remember what age the actor truly is. The story is real enough to allow you to vicariously experience the teacher's agony and ecstasy.
This may be the first time that I've reviewed three films (this, "Nixon" and "12 Monkeys") in a row and given them all four stars. There's some good stuff out there and you owe it to yourself to catch them. ("Nixon" is already gone.) The other two appeal to a narrower audience, but if you aren't touched by "Mr. Holland's Opus", go home and check for a pulse.
(Michael Redman, having written this column week in and week out for almost half of his life, sometimes spends the early morning hours sitting in front of a Mac trying to find the right words for this italicized section.)
[This appeared in the 1/24/96 "Bloomington Voice", Bloomington, Indiana. Michael Redman can be contacted at redman@bvoice.com]
-- mailto:redman@bvoice.com This week's film review at http://www.bvoice.com/ Film reviews archive at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Michael%20Redman
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