I LOVED the music in this movie. All-in-all, this was a completely satisfying film, and I would call it a must-see.

Mr. Holland enters the school auditorium with grey hair and the entire school is applauding when he retires, it makes me cry. I cry every time I watch it, and I can also cry every time I bring it to mind. If I ever get a part where I have to cry all I have to do is to bring back that memory back! That moment is a combination of my mother a music teacher and my dad aging. There is no greater love than to lay your life for another... When I graduated from college I wrote a letter thanking my parents for the rainy days they had to go to work, and for all the sacrifices they made for me and left it on top of the dining room table so they could find when I was not around. Needless to say that the entire family cried. That is what that scene means to me. I do not see Mr. Holland as a frustrated composer, he was just frustrated because he had other commitments that did not give him the time to compose. Glenne Headly did a great job playing Iris Holland. She has appeared in ER recently. Olympia Dukakis Steel Magnolias plays Principal Jacobs. It is beautiful when close to her retirement she gives Mr. Holland a gift. Jean Louisa Kell The Day Lincoln Was Shot is Rowena Morgan who steals the show because she sings beautifully. William H. Macy, Fargo plays Vice Principal Wolters who goes insane when he listens popular music coming from Mr. Holland's classroom. Poor Gertrude Lang, Alicia Witt "Cybill" is trying so hard to get the technique that she forgets about her feelings. I love when she finally gets to feel the piece and lets herself go.Then when she comes back as grown up is very touching. A music teacher having a deaf child is ironic. Mr. Holland teaching the kids about Beethoven is marvelous! I love when Cole Anthony Natale II , comes back as an adult and participates in the celebration of his dad's retirement, and also because he himself is going to teach at the school for the deaf in Washington DC. This movie struck a cord with me because of the music and because of all the elements that were brought into movie and story. I would give it a10 + if I could. It is one of my favorite dramas! I am not much of a drama person, I prefer comedy, but this is a very special drama.

At the end, when Mr. Holland's goodbye party was discovered in the gym and he took the stage, I was crying.What a wonderful movie. History-wise, music-wise, and story-wise.

nothing more than treacly and clichéd , but because he has, in two decades or so, sincerely figured out what's important. He certainly has his moments of sleaziness and selfish behavior, but without them the movie wouldn't have a purpose or any real story.This film is about a man's journey late in life, which is a journey most of us don't want or need. It is a slow and honorable journey, in which he learns a lot about himself and the audience learns to appreciate music and his students' unending charm and talent.Overall, an unbelievably well-put-together film about life and its many unbelievable yet realistic paths. A must for any parent with a musically-talented kid.

of techno wizadry, you can't always trust what you see on the screen, but it looked to me like he was actually playing the piano, in which case, another facet of this talented man.His character agonizes over a potentital relationship with a beautiful and talented student in a midlife crisis, but at the end makes the right decision.And the ending, it was so moving that even the cast had tears in their eyes, and I somehow don't think that was fake.The timeline of events from the 60's to the 90's was also excellent.Overall, a beautiful movie, and everyone put in a great performance. I thought it had the right balance, without getting overly sentimental and sugar coated, and evoked a feeling of the times with the music and settings.I take this movie out and watch it every once in a while.

rights movement, Watergate, etc .Kudos to the director and everyone else involved for getting most of the music stuff "right" - I'm a musician and I usually look for bad fake playing, inaccuracies, and anachronisms.Cheers to the late, great Michael Kamen for his wonderful score & especially "Glen Holland's" American Symphony: it contains musical "quotes" ranging from Copeland to Gershwin; to the final note from The Beatles' "A Day In The Life"....yes, I realize John Lennon wasn't American ;- ....One minor plot flaw: why couldn't The Governor just issue an Executive Order to restore Music Education funding? just kidding... JohnB

last and most memorable student perhaps, an extremely talented singer who goes on to a career in New York City.Interwoven are some personal stories, particularly with Kelly's character, and with fellow teachers Jay Thomas playing the most likable and school administrators Olympia Dukakis and William H. Macy . The most personal, of course, involves his hot-cold-hot relationship with his disabled son played by three different actors as time passes. Glenne Headly, meanwhile, plays Dreyfuss' wife.As you can see by this cast, this is a well-acted movie with the only flaw being the screenwriters unable, as Hollywood seems to be, to control their political bias by giving unwarranted cheap shots to Republican politicians who are pictured as being against the arts; atheist John Lennon almost deified in this film as one of the "heroes" of the 20th century, plus a few more digs and plugs here and there, all with the normal Liberal bias.Propaganda-aside, it's a genuinely nice film about people who succeed through dedication to their professions. The movie seemed to appeal to a wide audience. It's very manipulative, but it works. It's also a plug, if you will, for deaf children and the problems they face and the difficulties parents face in raising a kid with that disability.

is also too long. A treacly bit about a black student who lacked rhythm and then died in Vietnam could easily have been skipped. By the way, at the funeral, the parents of the young man are shown in mourning. But sitting next to them, ostensibly a relative, is a young woman who is smiling during both shots of the family. That's the kind of carelessness that marred this otherwise fine film. One more thing: teachers will know that it isn't that easy to win the hearts and minds of young people. Mr. Holland as an educator must have doing things off camera.