MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1996 Michael John Legeros
Of Maestros and Men
(Buena Vista)
Directed by Stephen Herek
Written by Patrick Sheane Duncan
Cast Richard Dreyfuss, Glenne Headly, Olympia Dukakis, W.H.
Macy, Jay Thomas
MPAA Rating "PG"
Running Time 144 minutes
Reviewed at General Cinemas at Pleasant Valley, Raleigh, NC
(21JAN96)
==
Any motion picture that promotes music appreciation is well-deserv- ing of a look, arguably even one as excruciatingly slow and predictably dopey as MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS. Agony is the best word to describe sitting through Stephen Herek's 144-minute epic of a minor scale. The story charts 30 years in the life of high-school music teacher Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss), from the inevitable first-year frustrations right on up to the only-in-the-movies appreciation-at-retirement rally. Though credible as a honest-- if rather tidy-- portrait of the educational process, the movie goes flat when scoring the weepy melodrama of Hol- land's family life. (The ads reveal a son who's born deaf and you can take it from there.)
Ignoring the deeper issues in Patrick Sheane Duncan's script, Herek opts for an OPUS that's part fantasy. Such as a school orchestra that sounds like seasoned studio players, or the magical acceptance of a teenaged son who has been terribly ignored through his life by his father. (Or even the small fact that we never see much evidence of *Holland's* impact on his student's lives. We only see how they affect *him*. How selfish.) And it only gets worse, quickly proving that more than just fairy dust is missing here.
The integration of the music is particularly horrid. Instead of a *real* review of the classics, we get a bit of Bach, a handful of old- ies, and an overdose of overblown orchestrations from composer Michael Kamen. Ugh. The lack of snap is equally abominable. Even the most patient for a good cry will likely find their bottoms growing sore long before their tear ducts do. Thank goodness for the solid work of Richard Dreyfuss. Wearing a great make-up job that successfully spans three decades, Dreyfuss gives a workmanlike performance that even survives him having to sing "Beautiful Boy." Who knows, he may just win a nomination.
Slow, sappy, and shameless, MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS is Hollywood happily- ever-after as only Hollywood can make it. The masses will probably eat this stuff up and, judging from the weekend grosses, they already have. Take Grandma; take the kids, and then run like hell for the door.
Grade: C+
--
Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC
legeros@nando.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w)
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