‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’ Definitely Isn’t A Masterpiece
It’s never a good sign when the only positive aspect of a film is the soundtrack. When the acting and interplay between characters make you want to cover your eyes and only listen to the music, something is wrong.
“Mr. Holland’s Opus” is just that. It relays the story of a frustrated composer-turned-music-teacher told in the style of a network TV miniseries. Richard Dreyfuss, despite his past success, plays this part as if he’s starring in a midafternoon soap opera.
The movie is divided into three sections: one, 30 years ago; another, 15 years ago; and the other, in the present. The first shows Dreyfuss in his very rough transition from composer to schoolteacher. When he starts out, most of his students dislike him. He is boring and basically teaches in a language they don’t understand.
Soon, though, he attempts to reach them another way. He tries equating his classical music with modern rock ‘n’ roll, and quicker than you can say “This scene is awful,” the students listen to him drone on about Mozart and major scales the same way he did the week before. Only now, to make the plot work, the students love him and don’t use his lectures as lullabies.
The second section, despite lots of potential, is riddled with soap operaitis. A young vocal phenom taught by Dreyfuss develops a serious crush on him and is devastated when he decides to stay with his wife instead of going away with her.
Through the movie, we see Dreyfuss’ son, Cole, grow up. He has a hearing disorder, which obviously causes problems between father and son. But the two discover each other when John Lennon dies. This point in the movie would be very touching, seeing the father and son become closer, but the idea that they aren’t close is rather poorly developed.
The final section shows Dreyfuss fighting to keep his music program alive. He is told by the school board that they don’t have enough money to continue his operation, and he fights back. Of course, being the dramatic movie it is, Dreyfuss has some fabulous lines that, if they hadn’t seemed perfectly rehearsed and straight out of a campaign speech, would have been moving.
Luckily, though, the soundtrack is great. It encompasses music from three centuries and does everything it can to make a normally laughable movie dramatic. In this regard, “Mr. Holland’s Opus” is right up there with “Forrest Gump,” with a perfect musical background for any scene.
“Mr. Holland’s Opus” can be compared very closely with “Legends of the Fall.” Both are soap operas on the silver screen, showing us the dramatic life of one character as touched by others.
It’s really too bad such a great idea for a movie was wasted on such a poorly executed film. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many good dramas in the theaters right now. But you’ll do a lot better going to the video store than going to see “Mr. Holland’s Opus.”
Grade: C-