MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1996 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: This is a GOODBYE MR. CHIPS for the
1990s. Richard Dreyfus plays a would-be composer
and musician who turns music teacher and inspires
generations of students. This is a more than
usually realistic view of the teaching career that
blows its credibility in the last ten minutes.
Rating: low +2 (-4 to +4)
I greatly respect for the teaching profession, though I cannot say the same of all films made about teaching. We see a lot of films about the teaching profession and with a few notable exceptions (much notably THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE), they generally make the teacher a hero. Teacher-hero stories fall into two different categories. One is the "flashbulb" sort of story, the other is the "candle." Flashbulb teacher films generally cover one semester. They have a new teacher come in and be faced with a nearly impossible situation. Either the students are totally establishment thinkers, the classroom is in total anarchy, or the students are treated by school officials as if they have the intelligence of water fowl. The teacher comes in, bringing with him or her the word that there is a world out there of knowledge and culture. Then in one quick semester the new erudition transforms the lives of the students. Example of this sort of film include DEAD POETS SOCIETY, RENAISSANCE MAN, TO SIR WITH LOVE, and STAND AND DELIVER. The teacher has brought enlightenment in one quick flash. This is rarely how the teaching profession operates.
Not as common, because they are generally less dramatic, are the films in which the teacher deals with many classes of students over a long period of time. This sort of film is much more realistic. Rather than as a flash of enlightenment, the teacher has been there as a source of culture for generations of students and, like the candle, the more that is given the less there is left for the teacher himself. Often the teacher has wondered if it has all mattered or not and his or her efforts have made a difference. But in the end the teacher who may even consider himself or herself as a failure comes to realize the deep respect that the effort has brought. This sort of film is a little more realistic. It includes GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS; GOOD MORNING, MISS DOVE; and the latest along these lines, MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS. In 1964 Richard Dreyfuss is a young musician and would-be composer who, in order to keep food on the table, takes a job as the high school music teacher of the newly-renamed John F. Kennedy High School. He finds the faculty unfriendly and unwelcoming and the students completely indifferent to the history of music. The school band makes a noise about as pleasant as the sound of a dentist's drill. He also has to admit his teaching is uninspired and unsuccessful. Eventually Holland decides that if his students cannot relate to Bach, he should try rock and roll and from there slowly he makes headway. The film follows Mr. Holland's life in and out of school. What he first thought of asa temporary teaching job that would give him the leisure to compose his own music instead soaks up all of his time for more than three decades of his life. He is able to overcome most obstacles by being well- meaning and being willing to put in the effort. The film concentrates on Holland's relationship with his wife, with his deaf son, with the buzz-cut assistant principal (William H. Macy), with legions of talentless students and one very talented singer, and especially with himself and his dream of composing. The story of his career for more than three decades of teaching are shown in about two and a half hours as a diverse and diffuse mosaic. Some of the scenes are overly emotional, but for the most part the film retains an air of authenticity until the last ten minutes. The film tries too hard to have a big finish and spoils much of its credibility.
Dreyfuss is an accomplished actor, but a lot of accomplished actors have played teachers. However, one thing that set Dreyfuss apart is that he really looked like a high school teacher. Instead of handsome and dynamic, he looks very average, the model of what viewers will remember their teachers looked like. Because there are a lot of different relationships in this film, we see considerably less of any of the other characters. Glenne Headly is believable but not memorable as the long suffering Mrs. Holland who only occasionally shows a resentment that her husband allows himself to be consumed by his job. The film was written by Patrick Duncan, who wrote and directed 84 CHARLIE MOPIC and wrote A HOME OF OUR OWN. Director Stephen Herek seems to have learned a lot about how schools run since he directed BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE. More recently he directed THE MIGHTY DUCKS and THE THREE MUSKETEERS. The film is a little on the manipulative side, but it should be an audience pleaser. I give it a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mark.leeper@att.com
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