Mr. Holland's Opus

Once upon a time .... men who were high school teachers always wore a suit and tie. Women teachers wore a dress and high heels.

When I saw the 1995 movie Mr. Holland's Opus I was transported back to my days at a small high school in Iowa. Our band teacher always wore a suit and tie. Always.



I remember taking private lessons from my band teacher. He had the patience of Job. Maybe more actually.



If you think about, elementary and high school teachers really have an impact on a lot of people. If a person teaches for 30 years and interacts with, say, 200 students a year, well that is 6,000 people. In reality, a teacher probably interacts with a lot more that. Regardless, most of us can remember the names of various teachers we had in school.

They touched our lives and helped form us into the people we are today.



I like Mr. Holland's Opus for lots of reasons. Seeing Richard Dreyfuss's character evolve from a young man to an older teacher is realistic. I love Olympia Dukakis's role as the high school principal. She saw something in Mr. Holland. She believed in him. She made him believe in himself.



If you haven't seen this movie, see it. If you have seen it, see it again. Some things in life are worth doing again.