Rating: 
Summary: Poor picture ruins movie..
Review: I have seen this movie many times on tape. An interesting story of how someone can go through life feeling they have not accomplished what they have set out too. When the fact s are that they have touched the lifes of so many people in a positive caring way. I have to say I like the movie, but the DVD has to be the poorest picture quality I have ever watched, even on the small screen, the flicker an fuzz was awful..My advice buy the tape.
Rating: 
Summary: Sensational
Review: Few movies have touched me as much as this one. It is about how priorities get in the way of dreams. Eventually with time, those dreams become unattainible. This is the heart of the movie.Mr. Holland (magnificently played by Richard Dreyfuss) yearns to be a composer, but get's stuck teaching music at a local high school. Like most of us he gets trapped there, in a place where he doesn't want to be. Once more, his son is deaf, leaving Mr. Holland to believe that his own son will never understand his passion: music. Mr. Holland eventually grows to love his job. He influences and inspires quite a few people there. Unfortunately, the music program is cancelled because of budget cuts. Mr. Holland, left jobless believes his efforts were futile, and his life wasted.He soon learns that he achieved a sucess far beyond his wildest dreams.
Rating:
Summary: A Music Student's prospective
Review: From 1979 through 1990, my life was shaped my the choral teachers that taught me from high school until I graduated college. This movie is a tribute to those that have devoted their lives to passing their love of music to those who could pass it on to their children. Teachers have always been underappreciated in our society and whether you were influenced by a music teacher or a teacher of any subject, this movie will make you want to go out and thank them. There are many Mr. Hollands out there. For me, Mrs Greene, Dr. Smith, Mrs Keenan, Mrs Thornton and Mrs Howlett are teachers who influenced my life. See this movie and thank those who teach.
Rating:
Summary: A Feel-Good Heart-Warming Tale
Review: The heart-warming tale of a composer-to-be turned High School Music Teacher. With Richard Dreyfuss ("Close Encounters of the Third Kind") in the leading role, the story spans a 30 year time period in the changed life of the teacher. The story is one most of us can relate to as we try to achieve our hopes and dreams. If we only realize the lives we are truly touching. The movie offers some unique transitions between the years including archived film footage and real-life events that changed our nation. While not based on a true story, it certainly could be. The only issue friends had with the movie was the speed with which the non-musical high school became an overnight sensation. Considering the fact the movie covers such an expanse of time, one's imagination must be employed to lay the timeline. Good supporting cast, mostly newcomers with the exception of Olympia Dukakis (the Principal) and that guy that played that Car Salesman in "Fargo".
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Summary: Great drama, character development
Review: "Mr. Holland's Opus" takes the viewer on a journey through the life of a young musician (played by Dreyfuss) and his family. When pregnancy enters the picture the couple decides that, for the present, life on the road is not a good idea while the baby is on the way. He then accepts a position as a High School music teacher, just to make ends meet, and to give him time to compose. Then real life hits... In the end it is teaching, not performing, that defines Mr. Holland's life. He is faced with personal and family challenges, motivated and ambivalent students, turbulent social times, and the continuing desire to compose...but there never seems to be enough time to do everything. This is an excellent movie! The acting is wonderful, and the story is compelling and believable. And the sound track is great. This movie is a triubute to the human spirit, and to the effect dedicated teachers can have on lives of their students. It deserves nothing less than 5 stars. If you haven't watched this movie, do yourself a favor and give it a look. If, however, your movie tastes are driven by action, adventure, high-tech special effects, etc., then this movie may not be for you. To all the teachers out there -- of music and everything else -- THANK YOU! Alan Holyoak
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: This movie was extremely well done. Every aspect comes across as being carefully chosen-- the way the characters age through the movie, the emotion between various people, the lessons that are learned, the music that is scored-- everything fits together perfectly to make this movie one of the best I have ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: Even my husband got tears in his eyes...
Review: This is a great flick. After seeing the movie in the theatre, we later rented the video. After viewing the video, we bought our own copy! I suppose part of the movie is patterned after "It's a wonderful Life" but that was a good movie, too. All the characters in this movie have great depth and are multi-faceted. And it's a movie that reminded me of how much we ask of our educators and teachers. And I think most folks can identify with the lead character. Who really feels 100% certain that they are living thir life to its fullest potential? Mr. Holland is plagued with doubts that he has wasted his life, but when he takes a few steps backwards and looks over the landscape of his life, he sees his life was immeasurably successful. I loved it. I loved every moment of it. It's a spiritual movie with a deep and profound message that as long as we are "every day, in every way getting better and better" we are on the right path.
Rating: 
Summary: Mr. Holland's Opus
Review: Good quality movie and fine acting. It is a tribute to teaching and the joys thereof. That is one message. Another message is one of selfishness. Holland is surrounded by selfcentered people who expect him to give up his dream to create. What kind of family is that? Leonard Bernstein had a family and still created and to the continued joy of the music world. Bach had 20 children and still created. I'll bet both men had supportive wives. Holland did delay his composition and it was only partially written. Many of the students he helped, who eventually became powerful, paid tribute after he lost his job by playing his unfinished opus. Isn't that wonderful? Here the man is put out to pasture after sacrificing his dream and he gets a pat on the back. His wife smiles and his son loves him again. Do his powerful and grateful former students help him? No. In the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" The people who were helped and even saved came forward and saved the day for the desperate hero. In Mr. Holland's Opus they really turned their backs on him and sugar coated it by playing his composition.
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Summary: Anyone who doesn't like this movie doesn't have a heart
Review: This is one of those movies where it finishes and I just sat there with amazement on how good it was. Anyone who cannot understand that just because it is not an action movie it can't be good because this movie is the best movie. I also recommend: Shanshank Redemption.
Rating: 
Summary: More oops than opus ...
Review: This is a cinematic tribute to the teaching profession rendered in a style reminiscent of Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life," but without any angels. Mr. Holland is a musician whose real heart is in composing. At first he sees teaching music appreciation in a high school as a way to put food on the table for his young family - and allow for spare time" to compose. He soon learns how demanding teaching can be - and ultimately discovers through the passage of time how rewarding it can be as well. Well, for anyone who is or has been a teacher of any kind - and can handle the cloying sentimentality of this stink bomb - the movie might be worth the seemingly interminable 142 minutes. There is a lot to be said for understatement, but Steven Herek doesn't seem to think the American movie-going public is sophisticated enough to catch the subtle hints that that entails. We get bonked over the head with newsreels - Lyndon Johnson's voice emerges inexplicably to tell us we are in the Vietnam era, one stop along the way in the tumultuous times of Mr. Holland - and the signposts keep coming till we find him in the present, convincingly aged. (The make-up is the singularly impressive feature of this film.) Victim of the perennial jostling of education priorities for budgetary reasons, Mr Holland finds that his services are no longer required. An extravagant surprise farewell party is held for him in the school auditorium with everyone but the President and the Pope there to tell him what a difference he had made in their lives. To conclude matters, it had been arranged that the composition he had been working on all these years would make its world premiere under the unrehearsed baton of the composer himself, much to his surprise and delight. Thankfully, the movie does not go on to show us how Mr Holland has an accident or finds himself with a fatal heart condition to prolong our embarrassment in this tale that aims for the heart, but collides with the digestive tract. There are some interesting ironies and issues dealt with this movie. Here is Mr.Holland, a music teacher, whose only son is deaf. Here is Mr. Holland the dedicated professional who is so immersed in helping other people that he has neglected his own family. Here is Mr. Holland, the man, who has been tempted to run off with one of his pupils - an adoring and talented beauty. Every aspect of the teaching psyche is addressed, from the sense of public duty to the suppression of the most private passions - all well and good. But what do we get instead? A movie that is almost a parody of itself. Movie's worst moment for me was surely where Dreyfuss as Holland sings John Lennon's "Beautiful Boy" to his son in front of a large audience of deaf college students. He had had a falling out with his boy and this was his attempt - a successful one - at making amends. The director tries to push too many buttons with this scene, however, as Lennon had just been slain at this time. There is also the point to be made that deaf people do possess an ability to appreciate music and musicians, thank you. Again, important messages, but they are so sugar-coated you find yourself looking for a toothbrush in the middle of the flick. If overly sentimental movies with inordinately lavish soundtracks don't bother you, then by all means this is a movie for you. (Most of the reviewers here are obviously happy with that kind of flick.) If they do bother you, forget it. If for some reason you find yourself watching this because there's no way out, you may need a six-pack or two to deaden the pain.
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