A Baby Boomer's Opus

Rating: 5/10 (20 May 2007)

Mr. Holland's life is punctuated by the overtly boomer exponent of Vietnam, and John Lennon is constantly revisited like a worn out coda. Yet the producers try to instill some musical integrity by making a reference to John Coltrane, an irrelevant figure for most boomers and especially Mr. Holland as not one Coltrane song figures in this movie. But more importantly Elvis's death goes unmentioned, who arguably influenced rock and roll far more than the over-commercialized, chocolate box, Brit-pop of the Beatles or the period pieces of the anti-war activists of the late 60s and early 70s.
Why is this? First, Elvis only spoke to the very earliest of the baby boomers as he himself actually preceded the boomers. By the 60s he was largely making movies and had been replaced by the British Invasion. Second, Elvis was intensely patriotic by most boomer standards having served his draft notice instead of burning the card. And yet I have a hard time distinguishing Mr. Holland from his boomer pupils.
The biggest irony is Mr. Holland's performance of Lennon's "Beautiful Boy" which serves as a reconciliation with Cole. Not only does it raise serious questions about Mr. Holland's inspiration since he borrows someone else's material to express his deepest emotions, but Lennon released this song on his last album before his death which he wrote for his son, Sean, not the estranged Julian. And juxtaposed to this is Julian Lennon's performance of "Cole's Song" which also raises more questions than it answers.
Thus, it is easy to see that Mr. Holland and his students are merely archetypes for John Lennon and his boomer fans. Plain and simple. Whatever that has to do with Beethoven, music in general, or inspirational teaching for that matter, I have no idea.