Introduction
Welcome to my corner! Last week, I shared my thoughts on the film Annie Get Your Gun. This week, I'm sharing my thoughts on the film Mr. Holland's Opus.
As I've said before, for the month of February, the TCM TV channel is paying homage to the Oscar's, with their 31 Days of Oscar. All of the movies played form February 1 to March 3 will either be Oscar nominees or winners.
Enjoy!
Mr. Holland's Opus
Mr. Holland's Opus is a 1995 American drama film directed by Stephen Herek, produced by Ted Field, Robert W. Cort and Michael Nolin and written by Patrick Sheane Duncan. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss in title role of Glenn Holland, a dedicated high-school music teacher who attempts to compose his own music while struggling to balance his job and life with his wife and profoundly deaf son. The cast also includes Glenne Headly, Olympia Dukakis, William H. Macy and Jay Thomas.
The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay in 1995. Richard Dreyfuss received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama and the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Plot: Composer Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss) believes that he'll eventually write a transcendent piece of music, but in the meantime he's taken a job at an Oregon high school. Though at first the job frustrates him, and his unconventional methods often draw the ire of the straight-laced vice principal (W.H. Macy), Mr. Holland grows to love his students as the temporary position stretches into a decades-long career - and in the end, they reveal just how much they love him back.
Acting: As with most of the other films I review for this column, there weren't any performances that lacked in any way.
I supposed it's more of a nod to the makeup department than anything, but it was interesting to see the actors have to play the same characters throughout their lives at different ages. I think it was pulled off well. None of the characters/actors seemed older or younger than they were supposed to be at a certain time. It's a wonder how makeup artists can do just about anything. It's remarkable.
Technical Aspects: The makeup and the soundtrack were the best aspects of this movie, hands down. I really liked the creative way in which the movie traveled through time. Unlike other movies that just give you the title card that says "...years later" or the year or date, Mr. Holland's Opus travels through time with montages of relevant videos and pictures of the designated time. The montages played above music of the time as well, which ties into the music-driven story and drive it forward.
Themes: This movie explores themes of music, teaching and life's unexpectedness and change.
Holland only takes a teaching job to bring in revenue; he has no aspirations of being a good teacher or a teacher for a lifetime. For some reason, he thought that teaching would leave him with free time to compose. He was wrong, and for a long time he didn't care that he wasn't a good teacher. But things changed, and continued to change, as they always do.
Only after sharing his love of music and understanding his students better did Holland become a great teacher, one that all of his students loved. And even though every curve-ball life threw at him was hard, he eventually adapted and made it work.
Holland could never shake the feeling that he was a failure because he didn't/couldn't finish composing his music; life simply wouldn't let him. It wasn't that he didn't like his teaching job, or anything else that life had brought him, but the one goal he set for himself was never reached. However, his students, family and friends come together and remind him that his life and the lives he touched meant more than a piece of music ever could.
Evaluation: The VHS tape of this movie has been sitting on our movie shelf at home probably since before I was born, but I never watched it. I never wanted to watch it. I looked at the cover and always passed it by. I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover but I did. I also didn't know what opus meant, so that didn't help.
Even going to watch it this weekend, after recording it on TCM, I was like, "Am I really going to watch this?" And, I did. And guess what? I liked it; I liked it a lot. Shame on me for not watching it before! My mom told me over and over again that it was a good movie, but I wouldn't listen.
My favorite aspect of this movie was the storytelling through time. Seeing the characters and how they act and develop over time was so cool. I don't know that I've seen another movie tell someone's life story in such a way. I really liked the transitions from one time to the next with montages of news reels and songs. I think it was a very smart and creative way to do it, like I said before.
Don't be like me; go watch this movie right now! It's worth it!
That's it for this week! What were your thoughts? Feel free to share them with us! You can call us, email us, visit us at the office, leave us a comment or message on Facebook, or even mail us something. Keep the comments, suggestions, questions, submissions, etc. coming our way! We'd love to hear from you!
