Mr. Holland's Opus

**Mr. Holland's Opus** is a 1995 American live-action film directed by Stephen Herek.

It focuses on Glenn Holland, a dedicated high school music teacher who attempts to compose his own music while struggling to balance his job and life with his wife and profoundly deaf son.

The film was released on December 29, 1995.

## Plot

In the fall of 1964, 30-year-old Glenn Holland is a successful and talented musician and composer from Portland, Oregon. He switches gears, taking a position as a music teacher at John F. Kennedy High School so that he can spend more time with his young wife Iris and work on his symphony. The film covers his 30-year teaching career, set amongst the changes in American society.

Holland at first struggles in his new job, but learns how to connect with his students by using rock and roll and other popular music to convince them that music is a fun and worthwhile pursuit. He becomes a popular teacher at the school and rises to the task of creating a school marching band with help from the football coach, Bill Meister, with whom he becomes lifelong friends. Holland persuades principal Helen Jacobs to maintain funding for the school's arts programs, despite a shrinking budget and the objections of vice principal Gene Wolters.

The time Holland devotes to his classes, the marching band, orchestra, productions and mentoring both struggling and talented students leaves him little time to work on his symphony, or to spend with his family. When his son, Cole, is found to be deaf, he is severely disappointed that he will never be able to share his love of music. He fails to learn American Sign Language properly, leaving him unable to communicate with his son and creating a rift between him and Iris, who has to raise Cole mostly by herself. As the years progress, Holland grows closer to his students at Kennedy High and more distant from his own son. An argument with his teenage son finally makes Holland realize the error of his ways and he learns to communicate with his son and help him visualize the music he can't hear, and repairs his relationship with his wife.

In 1995, Wolters (who is now the principal) shuts down the school's arts programs, citing further cuts from the Education Board and the need to prioritize reading, writing and math, and Holland is laid off as a result. Holland makes an impassioned plea to the Board to no avail and becomes despondent, believing that his teaching career has amounted to nothing. On his last day, Holland's wife and son, now a teacher himself, help him clear out his office and take him to the auditorium. It is packed full of current and former students who greet him with a standing ovation. Gertrude Lang, a struggling clarinettist from Holland's first year teaching, now Governor of Oregon, gives a speech praising Mr. Holland, that his legacy is more than just the symphony; it is all the people he has helped and influenced over 30 years. She joins past members of the school's orchestra, who have been practicing the symphony in secret, on stage. Mr. Holland conducts them in its premiere performance.

## Cast and Characters

* Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland
* Glenne Headly as Iris Holland
* Jay Thomas as Bill Meister
* Olympia Dukakis as Principal Helen Jacobs
* William H. Macy as Vice Principal Gene Wolters
* Jean Louisa Kelly as Rowena Morgan
* Joanna Gleason as Gertrude Lang
	+ Alicia Witt as younger Gertrude Lang
* Damon Whitaker as Bobby Tidd
	+ Forest Whitaker as Adult Bobby Tidd
* Terrence Howard as Louis Russ
* Alexandra Boyd as Sarah Olmstead
* Anthony Natale as Coltrane "Cole" Holland
	+ Nicholas John Renner as 6-year-old Cole
	+ Joseph Anderson as 15-year-old Cole
* Beth Maitland as Deaf School Principal

## Music

The film features an orchestral score by Michael Kamen and many pieces of classical music. Kamen also wrote An American Symphony ("Mr. Holland's Opus"), the work on which Mr. Holland is shown working throughout the movie. Kamen's arrangement won the 1997 Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement.

## Production

The movie was written by Patrick Sheane Duncan, directed by Stephen Herek, and was filmed in and around Portland, Oregon, with many exterior and interior scenes taking place at Ulysses S. Grant High School. Other scenes were filmed in Portland's St. Johns neighbourhood and Hollywood District.

## Reception

### Critical Response

The film holds a 75% "Fresh" rating from 28 reviews at Rotten Tomatoes. The site's consensus states: "A feel-good story brought to life by a terrific ensemble cast, Mr. Holland's Opus plucks the heartstrings without shame, and with undeniable skill." CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare "A+" grade. The New York Times film review cited Dreyfuss for "a warm and really touching performance"; Variety also called his performance "quite effective and surprisingly restrained". Variety further noted the "nostalgic aura" that permeates the film, "which encourages viewers to think fondly of, and pay tribute to, the one teacher in their lives who made a difference". Roger Ebert gave the film 3 1/2 out of 4 stars, commending its starring and supporting casts and agreeing with the film's message of the ability of high school teachers to inspire their students, as well as the importance of cultural offerings on the curriculum.

Writer Patrick Sheane Duncan was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay at the 53rd Golden Globe Awards. Dreyfuss was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama.

### Box Office

In the United States, gross domestic takings totalled US$82,569,971. International takings are estimated at US$23,700,000, for a gross worldwide takings of $106,269,971. Rental totals reached $36,550,000 in the US. Although the film is included among 1995 box-office releases (it ranks as the 14th-most successful film of that year), it was only released in a few theatres in New York and Los Angeles on December 29, 1995, because Disney felt, accurately, that Richard Dreyfuss' performance had a good chance of getting an Oscar nomination if it beat that year's in-theatre deadline.

## Awards and Nominations

### American Film Institute

* 2006: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers (Nominated)