1995, 145 minutes, USA

Director: Stephen Herek

Characters: Mr.Holland(Richard Dreyfuss),

In the beginning, Mr. Holland finds it difficult to settle into the teaching life. The kids' eyes are permanently glazed and the principal, starchily played by Olympia Dukakis, disapproves of his nine-to-five attitude. But then Mr. Holland decides to make it his personal mission to interest the students in his life's passion. He plays rock and roll. He tutors them one on one. That made a big difference.

The klutz on the clarinet (Alicia Witt) becomes a soloist; the rhythmless quarterback learns to play the drum; the marching band brings the house down. Mr. Holland goes from a redhead to a greybeard. As his career soars, his home life sinks. His son, Cole, is born deaf, and Mr. Holland ignores him. His wife, who signs fluently and is the only one communicating with their son, becomes angry--which is something of a blessing, because she's very saccharine at the outset. When John Lennon is killed, Mr.Holland is crushed, and he brusquely dismisses Cole, now a teenager, when he asks what's wrong. "You wouldn't understand," he says. Cole, with Iris interpreting, signs in no uncertain terms that he does understand, that deaf is not synonymous with stupid. He finishes off his speech by touching his thumb and forefinger in a little circle: "asshole." Eventually, although Mr. Holland becomes one of the school's favorites, the music department is axed in response to a funding cut. And the students, many of them long graduated, get a chance to show their music-teacher appreciation… ( reference: abcnews mr.showbiz)