Mr Hollands Opus: The Review

Mr. Holland's Opus [1995]

The Movie Poster

I told myself that I was not going to do a review for this movie, I was trying to get off of doing reviews. I'm not exactly sure why I don't want to do reviews anymore, I actually love talking about the things I see and if I liked them or not. Still, this movie turned out to be hard to not want to make a review for. So I give to you my review of Mr. Holland's Opus.

Synopsis:

The movie starts out with Mr. Holland as a young man. He's got a wife, they're settling down, and he's got this new gig at the band teacher at John F. Kennedy High School. And I use the term gig on purpose, because previously he was in a band. He loved his life in the band and he wishes he could have stayed in it, but when everything happened he needed money and settling more than he needed the band. So he's taking a bit of a different roll on now.

At the beginning of the movie you learn that he hates teaching. Every day he goes to the school and every day he's rushing out. Turns out he's not really into teaching that much, or so he thinks. Well, the principal of the school cracks down on him and tells him he needs to get into gear and start making the students learn and want to use that knowledge. So then he starts helping the students learn on a different level, one they can appreciate and one they can enjoy.

The rest of the movie is watching his life through the generations. Literally it goes from the start of his career to the end of his career and the viewer really gets to see what happens with him and with what he does. By the end of the movie, you'll feel that you really know him.

Verdict: 4.75 / 5 Stars

I love this movie and I don't think there is any better way to start this review. From start to finish you learn to love Mr. Holland and what he does, you like his reactions and you like how he teaches. So from beginning to end of the movie, it was just interesting and fun to watch. And on an emotional level I felt attached to the characters as well. That's something that is rare.

Now, maybe I'm a sucker for movies with teachers who prove to be real teachers, the ones that get the point across and make you love them because they bring you to the next level. That might be because in my own life I've felt this same sort of thing happen, but it is what a good teacher does. So to capture that essence as beautifully as it is done in this movie, with the drama and the back-story that is expected, is what sends it over the top for me.

And I bet now, after raving on how much I've liked it, you are wondering why I gave it less than a perfect score. Well, although I love everything and the emotions are there (which is usually that last missing point in a lot of movies), I felt that some scenes went on a bit too long or were a bit too slow. It's definitely worthy of the score, and most certainly worthy of a watch, but the director should have learned to cut certain things and make it speed through the scenes that were less interesting. And I know it maybe would have taken only ten minutes or so out of the entire almost two and a half hour long movie, but that does make a huge difference when coming to the final vote.

Still, this is an excellent film packed with emotion, drama, timeless values, a look into the past, and a great teacher. If you have not seen then, go get a copy and watch it. It is a great movie. 4.75/5 stars!

Bad Teacher: The Review

Bad Teacher [2011]

Bad Teacher Movie Poster

So this may come as a shock, but this is actually my second or third time watching this movie all the way through. I know I should stick with movies I've never seen before, but for all the reviews in the world that I can write this one won't matter. So I've rewatched the movie and here's my personal opinion.

Synopsis:

A really bad middle school teacher, Elizabeth Halsey, thinks she's going to retire from teaching after being in the service for a whole year. She has a rich boyfriend she's about to marry, a luxurious life set ahead of her, and no troubles what-so-ever. Except her rich boyfriend figures out that she's really only in it for the money before they can get married and so it's back for another year of teaching at John Adams Middle School (JAMS for short).  From there, its her strangely abusive, not very clean story of trying to go from rags to riches, or in her case get a new set of breasts to make herself more appealing to rich men.

Verdict: 3.75 / 5 Stars

If you'll believe it, I actually really enjoyed this movie! I mean, with all the vulgarity and what not I actually enjoy everything that happens. And I just want to state now that I was on the line between giving this movie a whole four stars or three and a half. Why? Because I know this movie is not right for everyone, but that's not to say it is just a terrible movie.

I guess what I liked about this movie is that there is this nostalgia while watching it of that's how my school went. I had the peppy teachers and the classes where there was the popular girls and popular guys who would not take a second of their life to look past the superficial appearances. And I liked that it was set in middle school, which is when hormones are a blaze in the students, and yet here we have this raunchy teacher who's drugged up and doped out in between her attempts at get-quick rich schemes. So in this essence, it kind of makes it more interesting for me.

And the plot seemed well thought-out. Like you can tell that whomever wrote the script really worked hard to make her seem like a witty teacher that could have tricked a rich guy into letting her have half his money and not the other way around. Combined with an arch nemesis, which I personally loved the corkiness of Amy Squirrel, and you get this sort of sickly sweet twist to a very different sort of comedy.  Top it off, I'm sort of a sucker for love stories that revolve around central characters and I love Justin Timberlake in this movie as the roll of the weird hot guy. So for me, it wasn't exactly something I would call painful to re-watch and I actually would recommend it to a friend.

The only problem I do have with this film is that its almost like they worked a little too hard to make it about the adults in the movie and less about the kids. I would have liked to see more interaction with the children and how she reacts, maybe even with some scenes extended. Instead, we get this sort-of pulled back view on the year that focuses around the principle and the adults. I also would have loved to have seen more teachers in this movie. Like we start to see them, but they too are just kind of there and not really given much more light than a quick appearance. And of course, I can't give it a perfect rating because this movie is NOT for everyone (and I know that).

So I feel this movie is a 3.75/5 stars type.