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poster of Mr. Holland's Opus
Rating: 7/10 by 407 users

Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)

In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it's just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired through his teaching, Holland must redefine his life's purpose.

Directing:
  • Stephen Herek
  • Adrienne Hamalian-Mangine
  • Jeffrey Wetzel
Writing:
  • Patrick Sheane Duncan
Stars:
Release Date: Fri, Dec 29, 1995

Rating: 7/10 by 407 users

Alternative Title:
霍兰先生的乐章 - CN
Mr. Holland Adorável Professor - BR
生命因你動聽 - HK

Country:
United States of America
Language:
English
Runtime: 02 hour 23 minutes
Budget: $31,000,000
Revenue: $106,300,000

Plot Keyword: high school, husband wife relationship, composer, music teacher, mentor, deaf-mute, portland, oregon, apprentice, marching band, teacher student relationship, high school teacher, disabled, teaching, sign languages, father son relationship
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Richard Dreyfuss
Glenn Holland
Glenne Headly
Iris Holland
Jay Thomas
Bill Meister
Olympia Dukakis
Principal Jacobs
William H. Macy
Vice Principal Gene Wolters
Alicia Witt
Gertrude Lang
Alexandra Boyd
Sarah Olmstead
Nicholas John Renner
Cole at 6 Years Old
Joseph Anderson
Cole at 15 Years Old
Anthony Natale
Cole at 28 Years Old
Joanna Gleason
Adult Gertrude
Beth Maitland
Deaf School Principal
Patrick Fong
Study Hall Student
Moira Feeney
Ms. Godfrey
Janine Shouse
Miss Schumaker
Dan Vhay
Mr. Malone
Sean Bevington
Mr. McMartin
Ted Roisum
Dr. Sorenson
Adam Fitzhugh
Mr. McKenzie
Kelly M. Casey
Deaf School Teacher
Alex Dudgeon
Auditioner 1
Rachel Wooley
Auditioner 2
Jordan Carlton
Auditioner 3
Aurora Miller
Auditioner 4
Paul Bernard
Auditioner 5
Tara Eng
Auditioner 8
Jay Frank
Auditioner 9
Stacey Siegel
Diner Waitress
Nicolas Sirianni
Football Player 1
Jacob Adams
Football Player 2
Chris Marth
Football Player 3
Brent Archie
Football Player 4
Kevin Calaba
Football Player 5
Keith Swift
Football Player 6
John Boyer
Billy Faraday
David Clegg
Superintendent
Don Burns
City Official
Dennis Biasi
Adult Stadler
Alexander Emmert
1st Chair Cellist
Cazzey Louis Cereghino
Graduate (uncredited)
Michael R. Ferraro
Auditorium extra (uncredited)
Elizabeth Fournier
Woman in audience (uncredited)
Balthazar Getty
Stadler (uncredited)
Forest Whitaker
Bobby Tidd - Adult (uncredited)

Wuchak

***Taking a bypass from your dreams and finding your true calling*** A composer (Richard Dreyfuss) puts his lofty ambitions on hold to become a high school music teacher in Portland, Oregon, from 1965-1995. Glenne Headly plays his wife, Jay Thomas the coach, Olympia Dukakis the principal and William H. Macy the irritating vice principal. "Mr. Holland’s Opus" (1995) is a good school-oriented drama that’s episodic in nature since it spans 30 years. The first 40 minutes were decent, but I was wondering if the film would be able to absorb me into its story, especially considering its considerable length. It did, particularly the episodes concerning Terrence Howard (playing Louis Russ) and angelic Jean Louisa Kelly (Rowena). The movie’s kind of a meshing of “Dead Poets Society” (1989) crossed with “Forrest Gump” (1994), although not great like either of those flicks. But it’s a solid drama. A 19 year-old Alicia Witt is on hand as one of the students in the first act. The film runs 2 hours, 23 minutes and was shot in Portland, Oregon, and nearby Marylhurst. GRADE: B

Filipe Manuel Neto

**Another good film about an outstanding teacher marking the lives of his students... another one.** One of the things I like most about a film, in addition to telling a good story and positively entertaining us for an hour or two, is to reflect on different subjects and themes. This exercise of critical questioning, free and reachable to the public, much more attractive than a six-hundred-page book, is one of the most important qualities of cinema. And this film has lots of themes and topics worthy of our reflection. First, I should say that the film is very good! It is very forgotten today and deserves to be revisited. It is, I think, the best film of Stephen Herek, an average director, more focused on TV, actually. The merit of the film falls, largely, on the great quality of the script by Patrick Sheane Duncan, who created the story of a composer who becomes a music teacher at a high school to earn some income and ends up marking several generations of students, teaching them to love music while trying to protect and support their own son, who was born deaf. In addition to a deep and moving story, we have good actors working in a very committed way: Richard Dreyfuss may be an actor who is a little far from the spotlight, but he gives us an extraordinary performance in this film and was nominated for the Oscar (he lost to Nick Cage, who shone in “Leaving Las Vegas” in a more psychologically challenging role). Glenne Headly and a young Terrence Howard gave him welcome and very solid support. The film moves us with its story, highlighting the importance of music and the relevance of artistic education. In a society where, more and more, we are appreciated for the money we earn to our employers (or companies, or countries), the arts and human sciences (history and philosophy, for example) are underappreciated because they are considered to have very few professional opportunities and practical applicability. The situation could not be more unfair: the human sciences teach us to think, to have a critical conscience and a vast general culture, while the arts transmit us an aesthetic sense and a capacity for self-expression that, unlike writing, tends to be universally intelligible. It's a shame that human resources directors often turn out to be such obtuse people, with such short horizons. The film addresses deafness in an interesting way, showing us that even a deaf person can appreciate music and that deafness is no impediment to an active and happy life. The film has only two major problems: the first problem, and for me the most serious, is falling back on the older clichés about school films involving teachers, and all the impact they have. This was done, much more effectively, in “Dead Poets Society” and “Mona Lisa Smile”. At this point, the most essential of the plot, there is nothing original. The second problem is that unreasonable romantic tension between Holland and one of his young and seductive students. We all know that the relationship between a student and her teacher is one of the most appealing erotic fantasies among middle-aged men, and I can understand why they included that sub-plot, but it's beside the point and should never have been included in the final cut.


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