Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)

A frustrated composer finds fulfillment as a high school music teacher.

Director:

Stephen Herek

Writer:

Patrick Sheane Duncan

Stars:

Richard Dreyfuss, Glenne Headly, Jay Thomas

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Glenn Holland
Glenne Headly	...	Iris Holland
Jay Thomas	...	Bill Meister
Olympia Dukakis	...	Principal Jacobs
William H. Macy	...	Vice Principal Wolters (as W.H. Macy)
Alicia Witt	...	Gertrude Lang
Terrence Howard	...	Louis Russ
Damon Whitaker	...	Bobby Tidd
Jean Louisa Kelly	...	Rowena Morgan
Alexandra Boyd	...	Sarah Olmstead
Nicholas John Renner	...	Cole at 6 Years Old
Joseph Anderson	...	Cole at 15 Years Old
Anthony Natale	...	Cole at 28 Years Old
Joanna Gleason	...	Adult Gertrude
Beth Maitland	...	Deaf School Principal

Storyline

Glenn Holland is a musician and composer who takes a teaching job to pay the rent while, in his 'spare time', he can strive to achieve his true goal - compose one memorable piece of music to leave his mark on the world. As Holland discovers 'Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans' and as the years unfold the joy of sharing his contagious passion for music with his students becomes his new definition of success.

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Plot Keywords:

teaching | high school | 1990s | deafness | high school teacher | 

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Taglines:

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English American Sign Language

Release Date:

19 January 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mr. Holland's Opus

Filming Locations:

Oregon, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$23,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$92,254, 19 July 1996

Gross USA:

$82,569,971

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$106,269,971

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures, Interscope Communications, Polygram Filmed Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the scene where Mr. Holland's son, Cole, is working on the car in the garage, a bumper sticker for KCAW Raven Radio in Sitka Alaska, can be seen in the background.

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Goofs

Ray Charles' "I've Got A Woman" was released by Atlantic Records.

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Quotes

Rowena Morgan: You love music and you made the kids love it with you.

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Crazy Credits

Saturday Night Fever (1977) scene courtesy of Paramount Pictures

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Connections

Featured in The 68th Annual Academy Awards (1996)

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Soundtracks

WACHET AUF, RUFT UNS DIE STIMME (SLEEPERS WAKE)
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

Excellent film, with even better music

Richard Dreyfuss is outstanding (as is the whole cast) in this thoroughly enjoyable film. I really liked it the first time, but with repeated viewings, I'd say that this film got even better. It's a little predictable, but so what? For me, it was impossible not to care about these characters, and the ending was the perfect heartwarming note to go out on. It was rather funny as well, but my favourite thing about this movie was the music. It seems only fitting, considering the importance of music to this film, that it would have a great number of songs, but I was astonished by how much I LOVED the music in this movie. All-in-all, this was a completely satisfying film, and I would call it a must-see.