After his lengthy languishment in the anonymity career hell of Disney comedies and moribund thrillers, it's good to see Richard Dreyfuss' stock rise with a ripe dramatic performance. Understandably Oscar-nominated, he plays all the notes in his likeable role, as empathetic, delightful and touching as a modern-day, baton-wielding, wisecracking Mr. Chips.
Glenn Holland (Dreyfuss) is a musician who reluctantly takes a teaching job in a Californian high school in the 60s for some temporary financial security so he can compose important music. Life being what it is, however, fatherhood and a mortgage defer the dream and Mr. Holland is still teaching 30 years down the line.
In that time he has progressed exuberantly from a frustrated bore to Mr. Popularity after finding a way to communicate his passion for music from Bach to The Beatles (cue toe-tapping sampler soundtrack). Whether wrestling with a cacophonic school orchestra or exhorting a gawky gang into a marching band, Mr. Holland inspires his kids to find their own abilities and enthusiasms. In case you haven't guessed, the students, you see, are Mr. Holland's great work, though he doesn't realise it until the retirement watch is past due and we're montaged through numerous crises, concerts in the gym and era-spanning clips from news bulletins.
Patrick Sheane Duncan's syrup-coated script can't resist throwing every travail known to middle-class man at Mr. Holland and his long-suffering wife (Headly), and director Herek is surer handling the laughs and fun than the elevated corn quotient.
