Dangerous Minds (1995)

An ex-marine teacher struggles to connect with her students in an inner city schools.

Director:

John N. Smith

Writers:

LouAnne Johnson (book), Ronald Bass (screenplay)

Stars:

Michelle Pfeiffer, George Dzundza, Courtney B. Vance

5 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Louanne Johnson
George Dzundza	...	Hal Griffith
Courtney B. Vance	...	George Grandey
Robin Bartlett	...	Carla Nichols
Beatrice Winde	...	Mary Benton
John Neville	...	Waiter
Lorraine Toussaint	...	Irene Roberts
Renoly Santiago	...	Raul Sanchero
Wade Dominguez	...	Emilio Ramirez
Bruklin Harris	...	Callie Roberts
Marcello Thedford	...	Cornelius Bates
Roberto Alvarez	...	Gusmaro Rivera
Richard Grant	...	Durrell Benton
Marisela Gonzales	...	Angela
Toni Nichelle Buzhardt	...	Nikki

Storyline

Louanne Johnson is an ex-marine, hired as a teacher in a high-school in a poor area of the city. She has recently separated from her husband. Her friend, also teacher in the school, got the temporary job for her. After a terrible reception from the students, she tries unconventional methods of teaching (using karate, Bob Dylan lyrics etc) to gain the trust of the students.

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Plot Keywords:

student | teacher | school | inner city | teaching | 

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Taglines:

She Broke The Rules... And Changed Their Lives.

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 August 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

My Posse Don't Do Homework

Filming Locations:

Burlingame, California, USA

Box Office

Gross:

£5,003,433 (UK) (23 February 1996)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures, Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Via Rosa Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the last films worked on by producer Don Simpson. He helped pick songs for the film soundtrack.

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Goofs

When Raul gets dragged away by the police from his fight with Emilio you can see that his ponytail is ruined, but in the next shot when they got out of the school his ponytail was back.

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Quotes

Hal Griffith: How'd they get you to stay?
Louanne: They gave me candy and called me their light.
Hal Griffith: That'll do it.

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Connections

Referenced in Hamlet 2 (2008)

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Soundtracks

"CARS"
(SAMPLE)
Written by Gary Numan

User Reviews

Surprisingly Inspirational

I had no interest in seeing this movie when it came out in 1995. It just seemed to be another movie about angry inner city youth struggling to graduate from high school. So running into this tonight, I finally decided go give in and give it a watch.

My final assessment is that although this movie bears comparison to a long list of great-teacher-inspires-kids movies, I now embrace the movie because Michelle's portrayal brings it over the top, also, I was positively impressed with Renoly Santiago's honest and sensitive reading.

It is easy, as I am ample testament, to dismiss movies that appear to be clones, but since this was reportedly based on a true story of an ex-military woman, it either demonstrates that the story does not emerge from the minds of banal-thinking writers, but from fact, or that the stories like these repeat themselves daily in the fabric of America and need to be told under as many guises as there are stories. WHY? Because all of us need inspiration and hope in our lives.