Mr. Holland's Opus
1995 · Movie · PG · 143 min · ★ 7.0 · 67% critics
A passionate musician takes a high school teaching job to pay the bills, expecting it to be temporary while he works on a dream composition. As the years pass, he finds himself shaped by the classroom, the changing times, and the challenge of balancing ambition with family and responsibility.
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Streaming on Disney+.
2 hours to watch.
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Details
- Years
- 1995
- Release date
- 1995-12-29
- Language
- English
- Rated
- PG
- Runtime
- 143 min
- Max quality
- HD
- Critic score
- 67/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.0/10 (453 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want an emotional, music-filled teacher drama about purpose and impact over time, with a similar spirit to Music of the Heart; Not for you if you dislike sentimental, lengthy, episodic stories.
Pros: uplifting teacher story; strong lead performance; love of music | Cons: long and episodic; heavy sentimentality; familiar school-movie clichés
Themes
- high school
- husband wife relationship
- composer
- music teacher
- mentor
- deaf-mute
- portland, oregon
- marching band
- teacher student relationship
- high school teacher
- disabled
- teaching
- +7 more
Awards & recognition
- Academy Award — Best Actor · 1996 · nominated
Cast & crew
Richard Dreyfuss
as Glenn Holland
Glenne Headly
as Iris Holland
Jay Thomas
as Bill Meister
Olympia Dukakis
as Principal Jacobs
William H. Macy
as Vice Principal Gene Wolters
Alicia Witt
as Gertrude Lang
Terrence Howard
as Louis Russ
Damon Whitaker
as Bobby Tidd
Jean Louisa Kelly
as Rowena Morgan
Alexandra Boyd
as Sarah Olmstead
Directed by Stephen Herek