Stand and Deliver

really inspired movie... a great teacher.. who can teach bad student to become a good student.. love this movie..

This movie is truly unique,with great actors and an even greater story.Based on a true story,this movie follows the lives of a tough,caring teacher and a group of inner city kids.Touching and powerful this movie is entirely believable,there are no stereotypes,no typecasting nothing that draws it away from its gripping reality.Even if the story is great it's the actors who tell it and boy,did 'Stand and Deliver have a fantastic group of actors led by Edward James Olmos and Lou Diamond Phillips who both gave fantastic performances. I think the fact that a large part of the cast and crew belonged to minorities helped bring a certain authenticity to this movie that might not have otherwise been there.It was a great movie to watch and the fact that it was based on a true story made it even more special!

This dramatically strong picture was followed shortly after by a perhaps slightly better film called "Lean on Me". That 1989 drama starred Morgan Freeman as the principal of troubled New York High School, Eastside. This time around though the story concerns a class of Hispanic kids from East LA who, given no chance of academic success by anyone, rise to unparalleled heights thanks to the efforts of a man who truly believed they could do it. Edward James Olmos (in probably the best performance of his career) plays the part of determined teacher Jaime R. Escalante, who comes to Garfield High believing he's to teach computers. Instead, he is given Math 1A, and immediately proceeds to turn the class on its head, with amazing results. He manages to sort the wheat from the chaff, and soon has himself a dedicated bunch whom he determines to take through the A.P. Calculus test in order to gain his students college credit. Olmos, as I said, is superb, and his support cast are also very admirable. Director Ramon Menendez gives his audience a great feel for this ethnic group, as he shows a very good understanding of their plight and position in society. Whilst keeping everything down to earth, he lifts the remarkable story up to an inspirational level. A very enjoyable and rewarding film. A finely balanced drama, enriched with some good humour too. Tuesday, December 14, 1993 - T.V.

Cops arrive on the set of this. Each with a can of spray paint. it gets really hot where this was filmed and thats why the cops work double, theyre everywhere, and they get sloppy.

I just watched "Stand and Deliver" for the second time, and this time, now many years later, I did not really enjoy the movie as much as I thought that I would. It is a rather negative film with all the characters being kind of mean to each other. The teacher is mean even though he probably does really care about the students. I also thought it silly to demand so many hours of math class a week. I never really connected with any of the characters either. But I think it is an interesting story worthy of filming, though I rate this film only a 5/10, not one I'll watch again.

Edward James Olmos plays a real-life character in "Stand and Deliver" a film about a high school math teacher who makes some incredible changes in the lives of some very un-studious, disrespectful students and not only does he teach them how to do math problems, and pass an AP calculus exam, but he also teaches them how to progress in life and to become devoted, and to apply themselves to something other than what their street friends think is cool. All in all, the film works out very well and I enjoyed it from start to finish. I thought the performances by the cast were fairly good, we got to see a young Lou Diamond Phillips, but I especially favored the performance by Edward James Olmos. This performance is quite the contrast from the one other film I have seen him in, but he plays it with even more effeciency. Olmos got the Oscar nomination for 1988 and he very well deserved it. He pulled of a fantastic performance with what he was given to work with. That is not to say that what he was given to work with was bad. And I am not saying that "Stand and Deliver" is a flawless movie. That it most certainly is not. It does have some flaws that unfortunately downgrade its rating for me. I felt that there were a few too many subplots and thus, the pacing was off. There was a high school romance subplot that didn't aid anything in the movie really and could have been eliminated to spare us a few minutes. Nevertheless, I will not deny that I found myself enjoying "Stand and Deliver" when I had a feeling in the back of my mind that I was going to despise it. It has a good heart, a few too many flaws for my taste, a good purpose, great performances (especially by Olmos), a screenplay that would have been perfect had it been shortened a tad bit, and high entertainment value. More than one would expect from a movie like this. I recommend it.

I am a student teacher and I noticed that there weren't any teachers commenting on this film. I have been assigned to critique this film based on a term known to educators as, TPE (Teacher Performance Expectations. I've seen the film, but it has been awhile and I'm having a little difficulty pinpointing exactly where there are examples of TPE's. I won't have time to find the film and watch it again to make these observations so I was wondering if there were any teachers out there who have watched this films and can assist me in identifying the TPE's that my instructor is tasking me to do. I identify strongly with these students because up until 10 years ago I was homeless and a heroin addict. I've made some progress by getting off drugs, obtaining my certificate for Substance Abuse Counseling, both my Bachelor's and Masters degrees and wanted to go into the teaching profession. After all my hard work I was denied my teaching credential due to the policy of the California Board of Education I am not qualified. I want to give something back to my community by teaching. I am male, Bilingual Latino with an understanding of pitfalls inner city students are facing and yet I am stopped right at the doorstep. I've accomplished much and want to encourage and help these kids but am up against a bureaucracy that is determined to hinder that. Is there anyone out there who can relate to this film and the mistrust that the school board extended to the students and myself.

To this day, I hate anyone who says this was a bad film. Beautifully conceived, this film really captured the spirit of basic filmmaking, and how the central character inspired the masses. From the first time we meet Olmos, to the infamous `Calculus' line by Lou Diamond Phillips, to the rather startling ending, we see a side of life which is rarely portrayed in most films. Phillips and Olmos really carried this film, simply due to their off kilter relationship which was spawned during the film. One of the most poignant scenes in the film is when Olmos is giving Phillips all of his books, trying to help the guy maintain a rep as well as stay focused on his class work. An inspiring film to say the least, more movies about Mexican American life should be made in order to tap into the rather diverse range of beliefs and traditions.

Sure it's firmly implanted in the cloying Inspirational Teacher sub genre but I confess to a soft spot for this film since, after watching it, I felt inspired to get up off my Great Late 30s ass and start the process that landed me back in the classroom. Literally saved my life. And Olmos is fantastic.

Just as a side note, Escalante moved to Sacramento, CA from Garfield, HS where he was treated extremely well by the local public school system. They converted a large wood shop into a custom classroom for him. He did not move back to Bolivia as some have suggested.