Mr. Holland's Opus

This is one of my least favorite movies ever: a movie geared towards people who don't really know anything about music, and as such, reveals its complete stupidity to those who do. Mr. Holland's Crappy Opus is the story of Mr. Holland, a cranky guy who's not a very good teacher, not a very good musician, not a very good husband and not a very good father. To put it mildly, he has no redeeming qualities. He works for his whole life on this "OPUS," and when it finally gets performed, it's god- awful. It sounds like he wrote the soundtrack to a lame movie (except the people who really do write movie scores don't spend a whole lifetime on one film). How can you work on music composition your whole life, and still have no talent for it? Is it possible? Well, in the movies, anything's possible. The movie seems to credit Mr. Holland with inventing the pep band, which makes him all the more despicable to me. When the pep band at my high school started playing "Louie, Louie," the kids at the game didn't cheer. They would roll their eyes, and/or vomit. No movie can make me believe that being in a marching band is cool. Drumline, this means you. I was in the marching band from 6th grade until high school graduation, and it was decidedly not cool. There's also the pointless Rowena Subplot, which culminates in a gripping scene where Richard Dreyfuss's wife reads Rowena's name on a program, discovers that Rowena is not just a celtic mythology figure that her dorky husband is in love with and consequently makes a face. You'll be glued to your seat as a spectrum of emotions from stern disapproval to disapproving sternness passes through Mrs. Holland's face, and then the Rowena subplot proceeds to go precisely NOWHERE. Mr. Holland "touches the lives" of all these students...and each life he touches is destroyed! He tells the redheaded girl to play the sunset; she becomes a miserable politician. He gives Rowena "voice coaching" (is that what the kids are calling it now?); she runs away, never to be seen again. He hits that football player kid on the head with a bass drum beater to teach him about rhythm. (Yes. The only black guy in the movie has to learn about rhythm from a white guy.) And that kid dies! The film's solitary saving grace is the fact that it introduced Alicia Witt who, after appearing in Mr. Holland's Stupid, Life-Sucking Opus, went on to become the cutest redhead I have ever seen. She can play my sunset any day. Or something. But what's up with that scene where the hearing-impaired people "appreciate" music by watching idiotic flashing lights? Nice going, Mr. Jackass, you've just implied that deaf people are morons. Let's wait and see whether they thank you for touching THEIR lives, dickweed. I actually found myself rooting for William H. "This Is My Deal Here" Macy, the school's evil, conservative, buzzcut-sporting budget Nazi. "Go, Mr. Macy. Cut his budget! Cut it DOWN! The school needs three new football stadiums, not creative arts education! Burn those violins on the baseball diamond!" So, if you like movies that are just ill-conceived vehicles for 60s pop rock montages (blah blah blah, fake moon landing footage, blah blah blah, Martin Luther King Jr, blah blah blah) and scene after scene of Richard Dreyfuss being a jerk, run out and see Mr. Dickweed's Heinously Barfalactic Opus.

source: Mr. Holland's Opus

Sure, this movie is emotionally manipulating - why else do we go to movies? Sure there are elements which are unbelievable - since when are movies a perfect duplicate of reality? I thought the purpose of movies was to escape the reality of our lives and experience something different through someone else's eyes. Mr. Holland's Opus does that - sure, from a musician's standpoint the final "opus" was lame, but who cares? That's not the point of the movie.

This is my favorite movie, and also my mom's. Whenever I watch it, I'm so inspired to play the piano and flute, and I noticably improve on both. It's a tear-jerker, but not in the way that makes you embarrassed for crying. I love this movie, and my view of my own music would be profoundly different if it had not been made. Thanks be to God that it was.

Mr. Holland's Opus is very entertaining movie to watch. This movie is perfect for people who enjoy music and love to perform it. Richard Dreyfus is perfect in the lead role as Mr. Glenn Holland (he was nominated Best Actor), a music composer who captures the hearts of all his students in a 30 year span. Though Lengthy, a wonderful movie to watch for the whole family!!!

Glen Holland (Richard Dreyfuss) was an aspiring musician and composer, but like most artists he needed to earn a living while striving for his big break. He chose to teach music at John F. Kennedy High School in Portland, Oregon while trying to compose his "opus." Mr. Holland took to teaching like a fish to water and he threw his entire self into it. And unlike many pedagogical movies, he didn't have to reform a classroom full of misfits. "Mr. Holland's Opus" is an ode to teachers in general and music teachers in particular. In no small way this movie shows their sacrifices and their incredible responsibility. It's a fine movie even if it didn't really stir me. There was some drama with him having a deaf son and him dedicating so much time to teaching. I think this movie tried to represent a wider swath of teachers who are heroes without rescuing a class or a school from eminent collapse, but just subtly touch the lives of their students.

The arts do a lot for us. As creatures we worship beauty, simply by nature - and beauty of all kinds. This movie explores just how special the pursuit of creating beautiful things really is. It's also a good reminder that you can make your (beauty) mark on the world in whatever you choose to do, and that anyone can appreciate that art - whatever kind of artist you may be. The performers, for that matter, did a beautiful, perfectly human job, the writing and aesthetics were superb. Bring this one home with a bag of your favorite comfort cookies and feel good for an evening.

Many reviewers have blistered this movie, and I agree it contains too many cliches and is overly sentimental. But compared to the endless supply of Hollywood vapidity, this one isn't THAT bad. Mr. Holland is neither saint nor bad guy, but he clearly loves music and cares about his students. I understand that music is a very serious topic for many people including several reviewers who hated this film. But I think they miss the point; Mr. Holland is not a musical genius, he's a high school music teacher. And yes, his opus truly sucks balloons, and that's because Mr. Holland is a musical mediocrity. His dream of being a famous composer was delusional, a ridiculous pipe dream. But he Found his true calling in life as a decent teacher. That's the point of the movie.

Dreyfuss shines as music teacher Glenn Holland who after forced retirement due school budget cuts is celebrated with a school auditorium full of former students each of which has been touched by him. We are the notes and melodies of your symphony.

A heartfelt performance by Richard Dreyfuss is the strongest asset of this good, though not great, movie. Dreyfuss was nominated for Best Actor in playing Glenn Holland, a young man who dreams of one day completing a memorable piece of great classical music. In order to make ends meet and feed his wife and deaf son, he must lower his standards by taking on a frustrating teacher's job at a high school. Holland initially has a tough time trying to interest his lethargic students in music appreciation, but his efforts ultimately pay off as he begins to make a difference in their lives. Spanning a period of 30 years from about 1965 to 1995, the film does not successfully realize that transition as well as it might have. For example, I was able to spot a number of chronological errors in how the montage of passing years was represented. But one personal highlight in the film for me involved Holland's devastation upon learning of the murder of John Lennon in 1980. *** out of ****