The Screen Addict | Mr. Holland's Opus
Many summers ago, my father rounded up the whole family to go see Mr. Holland’s Opus (1996) at the local cinema. I wasn’t so sure about it, I really wanted to watch Nic Cage one-up James Bond in The Rock (1996), and not some lame film about a music teacher. Still, I wasn’t going to say no to a night at the movies, so Mr. Holland it was.
Today, more than 25 years later, I still remember vividly how I was simultaneously impressed, moved, devastated and elevated by this truly beautiful film. It is unfortunately also a film that is under-represented on TV, streamers etcetera, starring an actor who is consistently and frustratingly under-valued.
Richard Dreyfuss shot to fame with his buddies George Lucas and Steven Spielberg during the late Seventies and early Eighties, but he wasn’t able to maintain the same momentum that exemplified his famous director-friends. During the early Nineties though, Dreyfuss made a couple of films that are seared into my cinema cerebellum. Once Around (1991) and What About Bob? (1991) are two of those films, and MHO is the third.
A story about a high-school music teacher who inspires many students over several decades is in itself uplifting enough, but it is Michael Kamen’s rousing score that truly brings MHO to another level for me.
Obviously, a film with a musician at the center needs a brilliant composer. Just watch the opening credits to see and hear the diegetic soundtrack flow seamlessly into non-diegetic music, and you will get an idea of the magnificence of MHO.
Kamen is also the composer of one of my other all-time favorite film-scores – Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). Listen closely to both soundtracks and you will hear the same soul-stirring horns and strings.
Kamen was an absolute master of his craft and it is so breathtakingly unfair that this movie-music maestro is no longer with us. Fortunately, we still have films like MHO and RH:PoT to celebrate his art.
If you decide to give this cinematic gem a chance – and you really, really should – keep your eyeballs peeled for a very early performance by Terrence Howard and a cameoing Forest Whitaker. Not to mention William H. Macy and Olympia Dukakis in fabulous supporting roles.
The great irony of my deep affection for MHO, is that I personally detested music class in high school – but yet here we are. Dreyfuss made me completely forget about the dreadfully uninspiring nitwit I had for a music teacher, and Mr. Holland instantly joined the upper echelon of inspirational fictional educators played by the likes of Robin Williams and Sean Connery.
Oh, and in case you were wondering – of course my family and I went to see Nic and Sean storm Alcatraz a couple of weeks after we saw MHO. Completely different genre obviously, but equally memorable.
(Author’s note – Updated with this wonderful news!)
https://deadline.com/2022/01/the-nutty-professor-mr-hollands-opus-stage-musical-adaptation-ogunquit-playhouse-regional-theater-1234920089/#recipient_hashed=48bbac8401ea7669ec24a92faa844768aa89eaa17de987e42cba67091c53a868
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