Date: Fri 26-Jan-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Quick Words:

Holland-Dreyfuss-Playing-Opus

Full Text:

(rev "Mr Holland's Opus," Now Playing, 1/26/96)

Now Playing-

Share Mr Holland With The Family

By Trey Paul Alexander III

1995 has officially come and gone, but in entertainment circles, discussion of

the last twelve months is just heating up. The plethora of year-end awards is

ruling the talk of the town, Academy Award nominations are due next month, and

every motion picture studio in and outside Hollywood is scurrying about trying

to get its top productions noticed or remembered.

One of the many hopefuls that arrived late in the season is Mr Holland's Opus

, a film that only recently opened in most venues across the country. However,

it debuted in "select theatres" in New York and Los Angeles just before the

end of December so it could qualify as a potential Oscar nominee.

Mr Holland's Opus , playing at the Crown Cine Theatre, follows the 30-year

career of a high school music teacher at the fictional John F. Kennedy High

School of Portland (the film opens one year after Kennedy's assassination, and

the first glimpse of the school's facade reveals a freshly renamed institution

in honor of the fallen leader). Although Holland's dream is to become a

full-time composer, the realities of making ends meet for himself and his wife

(the talented Glenne Headly, who is disappointingly ill-used here)

necessitates his taking a teaching job.

When characterizing this film, an easy comparison to be made is with Dead

Poets Society - a maverick teacher of the arts, a newcomer at an ensconced

establishment, rocks the boat with his progressive style. But the difference

in this modestly ambitious project is that Holland is not cast as the

all-knowing, enlightened character that is often portrayed in these types of

dramas. He is in many ways just as flawed as his students.

Holland begins his teaching tenure under the impression it will give him the

time he desires to do his composing on the side. But before long he finds

himself inundated by apathetic students, and as he puts it, "I never realized

that when I was in high school, wishing I was somewhere else, my teachers may

have been thinking the same thing." But his classes are also populated by

eager, though unskilled, kids seeking tutelage. Although reluctant to become

attached to his job, Holland finds his creative juices invigorated, in spite

of himself, as he strives to get his kids excited about music.

One of the twists of the movie that has already been announced in its

advertising campaign is the birth of a deaf child to the Hollands. The irony

is palpable - a man, so passionate about music and its powers, faces

parenthood of a son who will struggle to comprehend the depths of what his

father loves so deeply.

For some strange reason, most sequences involving all three family members are

overdone, tending to play out like a bad TV movie (the chemistry between

Headly and her co-stars is too often forced and artificial). But Holland's

individual struggle to cope with his son's disability is effectively

presented, as evidenced by a terrifically conceived, powerfully poignant

sequence in which Beethoven's seventh symphony is being playing to one of

Holland's classes. While he explains Beethoven's hearing loss to his students,

Holland is obviously also first coming to grips with the shock and

implications of his own child's condition.

Richard Dreyfuss is outstanding in the title role, and his sturdy, yet

vulnerable presence subsequently gives the movie its warm heart. Although not

perfect, Mrs Holland's Opus is tremendously satisfying and manages to be quite

moving despite having much of its plot disclosed in countless TV ads and

trailers. It is rated PG and, aside from a few profanities (and they are

surprisingly sprase), is recommendable viewing for the entire family.