Featured Movies
Partners
Mr. Holland's OpusMr. Holland's Opus cobbles together elements from other tearjerkers to create a Frankenstein's monster of a weepy that somehow still manages to move.
Most obviously a homage to Oscar-winning school drama Dead Poet's Society, Stephen Herek's film also takes cues from any number of pictures about good-natured folk who forgo their dreams to enrich the lives of those around them, plus the obligatory lesson in the power of music to inspire, heal, and redeem.
Glenn Holland (Dreyfuss) is keen to make a splash as a classical musician, but discovers the pressures of modern life are so great that he must lay his symphony to one side and put his teaching certificate to use. As the years whizz by, Holland spends less and less time on his opus, and instead dedicates himself to the children in his life, including his deaf son Cole (played as a child by Nicholas John Renner, and as a teenager by Joseph Anderson).
The film boasts wonderfully subtle performances, which serve as compensation for the frequent, and rather blatant, tugging of heartstrings. Olympia Dukakis, Jay Thomas, and the ever-reliable William H Macy are particularly impressive as Holland's favourite principal, best mate, and worst enemy, respectively.
Dreyfuss brings great gusto to the role of Mr. Holland, and the film works best when Herek allows his leading man to cut loose. Only then does it stop being saccharine and start feeling sincere.
The picture's other great asset is its soundtrack, except for the titular opus, which is about as impressive as your average Pop Idol performance. Thank goodness then for the inclusion of ditties by The Kingsmen, John Lennon, Bach, Beethoven, George Gershwin, The Spencer Davis Group, and Stevie Wonder.
|
