A musician (Richard Dreyfuss) sets aside his grand aspirations to take a job as a high school music teacher in Portland, Oregon, covering the years from 1965 to 1995. Glenne Headly portrays his wife, Jay Thomas is the coach, Olympia Dukakis plays the principal, and William H. Macy takes on the role of an annoying vice principal. "Mr. Holland’s Opus," released in 1995, proves to be a worthwhile drama centered around school life, structured as a series of events across three decades. The initial portion, lasting roughly forty minutes, was agreeable, but I wasn't sure if the film could fully draw me into its narrative, particularly given how long it is. It eventually did, especially with scenes involving Terrence Howard, who plays Louis Russ, and Jean Louisa Kelly in a memorable role as Rowena. The movie feels like a combination of "Dead Poets Society" (1989) and "Forrest Gump" (1994), though it doesn’t reach the heights of either film. Nevertheless, it's an effective drama. Alicia Witt, then 19 years old, appears as one of the students during the opening section. The movie has a running time of 2 hours and 23 minutes and was filmed in Portland, Oregon, along with Marylhurst nearby. GRADE: B

Source on TMDB