Saved By Richard Dreyfuss

Rating: 5/10 (12 May 2009)

Long, soggy gag fest that is nevertheless watchable thanks to the Herculean efforts of Richard Dreyfuss in the title role to make the rampant sentimentality bearable.
Dreyfuss plays a music teacher who has a son and then acts like an ass toward him because he was born deaf. Much mucusy Hallmark soul searching follows, with father and son of course reconciling before the movie's over. And boy does it take forever for the movie to be over; director Stephen Herek takes what should have been a small character study and expands it to bloated epic proportions.
Much to do is made about the magnificent opus of the film's title, supposedly Mr. Holland's masterpiece. Needless to say, by the time you hear it at the movie's conclusion, you can't help but be hopelessly befuddled at how ordinary it sounds after the relentless build up.
Grade: C+