Year:1995
Rated: PG for mild language
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Glenne Headley, Olympia Dukakis, William H. Macy
Glenn Holland wants nothing more than to compose a symphony and be a well respected musician. But given that well paying jobs for musicians are scarce, and even more so in the 1960s, he decides to take a job teaching high school music until he gets his big break. Teaching isn’t his passion, and it shows. His teaching is dry and boring, his students could careless, and even he’s bored to death. His only real love, besides his wife Iris, is creating his music. But life often has other plans, and Glenn finds out that Iris is pregnant. He puts his dream of composing on the back burner, and so follows the next 30 years of his life.
As time goes by, Glenn knows that he’s not reaching the kids, and inspired by his principal (Dukakis) he searches for a way to teach his students, and realizes he can—through rock and roll. It’s unorthodox, and causes problems among the staff, but the students start to learn music theory. Glenn is then asked to head the student band, and must tutor some of the students because they’re not doing well. As he reaches out, he begins to change the lives of his students around him and he becomes a better teacher.
Then, he and Iris learn that their son, Cole, is deaf and he’s visibly crushed. He believes he’ll never be able to share with him his one passion, and subconsciously starts to distance himself from his wife and son. He takes on more responsibilities in school, and time slowly starts to drift away, his music becoming more of an afterthought. His relationship with his son suffers as he feels he has no way to bond with him.
Stephen Herek, the director, cleverly uses important historic events and archival footage to show the passage of time. Curiously, it is the death of John Lennon that helps repair the distant relationship between him and his son. Glenn spends 30 years teaching high school music and never gets a chance to pursue his music career. He then learns that the art and music programs are being cut from the school and he’ll be out of job. The ending of the film is truly inspiring and a tribute to Mr. Holland as he finally realizes that he hasn’t wasted his life at all, but been an inspiration to many of the students throughout his teaching career. The ending never fails to make me cry (even if that’s all I see of the movie) and is a wonderful family film. There is some adult language in the movie, but it used sparingly and with purpose. It is a longer movie (around 2 ½ hours), so younger children will be less likely to sit through it, but those ages 12 and up will find it appealing.