Dangerous
Minds (1995)
In the tradition of "The Blackboard Jungle," "To Sir,
With Love," and "Stand and Deliver," "Dangerous Minds"
tackles the plot of a duck-out-of-water teacher taking
on a unruly inner-city classroom. But this film has
a bit of a twist. Instead of the teacher only imparting
wisdom to the class in an effort to make them more like
him, this film has the teacher, played wonderfully by
Michelle Pfeiffer, also learning to be more like her
students. She becomes one of them thus blurring the
line between teacher and student more than it has ever
been distorted before. But, because of this, it rings
much more true and natural. It doesn't seem to require
that false sense of hopefulness that make the other
films in the genre seem less realistic. When the students
learn here, it seems much more like their desire than
as if the teacher somehow willed it upon them. That
is odd, especially since this film probably spends less
time in the classroom than any of the others.
Pfeiffer is a true tour-de-force here and deserves
a nod come Oscar time. She pulls together some interesting
aspects of her character with no help from the script
or the editing. Pfeiffer is forced to simply act in
the desperation of no words or cinematics to help convey
her feelings. When she becomes desperate, disillusioned
and emotionally beaten at the film's end, we can see
it. We feel it. We empathize with her character. Pfeiffer
doesn't quite do this all on her own. She has the help
of her fantastic co-stars. The only thing that almost
sidetracks her is a bit of an accent that she wisely
plays down and her attractive facade. It's hard to believe
here that the male students don't literally eat her
alive because of her beauty. But the actress never relies
on her looks to carry her here, as she rarely does in
her films, and succeeds in winning us over as easily
as she does the students here.
Based on a true story scripted by Louanne Johnson,
called "My Posse Don't Do Homework," Pfeiffer is called
by the author's name here. While the incidents depicted
may have taken years to unfold in reality, the transpire
in a single school year here. But it all seems real.
Johnson transforms herself to become not only a teacher
to her students but also minister, mother, protector
and mentor. To be sure, Johnson uses some questionable
methods to get on the "ins" with her class; She rewards
them with treats from candy bars to amusement parks
and she uses rock lyrics to introduce her class to poetry.
This is nothing new, really, and we can't argue with
the results. It may not be the old Hollywood hype about
learning being it's own reward, but it works. And to
satisfy all of our desire for righteousness, the learning
soon does becomes it's own reward. Johnson has to work
harder and to do whatever it takes, whether we agree
with it or not, to achieve the results we know both
she and we want.
While we're on the rock lyric thing, incidentally,
it's kind of surprising that the film doesn't use the
lyrics to rap songs to teach here. Maybe because the
time-frame may be 1995, but the actual incidents are
probably from the 80's. Still, it seems odd, especially
with the gangsta rap that permeates the film, that the
teacher here uses Bob Dylan and not Snoop Doggy Dog
to interest her students in poetry. The script, by Ron
Bass, could have worked a little harder here. Either
by moving the time frame or by adopting a more modern
attitude. The same can be said of the curriculum. The
only two authors discussed are Paul Zindel and Dylan
Thomas. Is it hard to get the rights to classic literature?
Still, I shouldn't nitpick, it works.
The script sure could have gone a little more in-depth
in plot too. We feel like the end is a bit hurried.
After much time spent on getting the kids to learn in
the classroom, it is a single incident outside the classroom
that acts as the catalyst for the finale. We want more
and we deserve it. The film probably suffers from overzealous
studio handling which brings it in at under 1 hour 45
minutes when a running time of over 2 hours would be
much more satisfactory. We like Pfeiffer as Johnson
and we love the students. We wouldn't mind delving a
little deeper into all of their lives.
John N. Smith's direction is adequate. He moves the
film along at a nice pace and never gets bogged down
in the desperation of living in the 'hood. What he shows
us about the students lives here is subtle yet worthy.
When Pfeiffer traverses a filthy sidewalk to get to
a small, dingy project apartment to visit one of the
students, Smith shows us all we need to know about the
character's situation without ever being obvious. He
lets us react instead of showing us any reaction from
Pfeiffer. Meanwhile, Smith also handles the claustrophobia
of a school room setting by giving us sparkling actors
within them. The youth playing the students here are
remarkable. We believe each one of them, even if some
of them look a little old to be in high school. These
characters are old beyond their years in a lot of ways
anyway. And Smith also takes any opportunity he can
get to take us outside of that classroom setting. Again,
if Smith's film suffers, it is because he hurries a
little too much. He doesn't delve deep enough for us
at times. But this may not be his fault. I'm more inclined
to blame the studio than the director - even with no
proof.
Smith and Bass do make room for interesting touches.
For one, Johnson soon disregards any constraints the
school system may put upon her after only a short time
teaching there. Note that she very implicitly states
that she can't touch any of the students at the film's
beginning, yet she is hugging some of them before long.
She also uses foul language at times in the classroom.
While this may not be proper, it does seem necessary.
Here Johnson can't turn these kids around just by being
a shining example; She has to go down to their level
in order to bring them up to hers. Emotionally and psychologically,
she travels as far as the students here do.
"Dangerous Minds" may be a little obvious; It may
be a bit glossy; It may even be a little disturbing,
but it works. Pfeiffer proves herself to be one of the
finest female actors of the 90's. As in "Frankie and
Johnny," she proves that she is more than just a pretty
face; She has a depth and clarity here. She expresses
insight and conviction while displaying vulnerability
in the same second. She becomes one of America's greatest
actresses. She makes this film work and that's very
important. We need a film like this right now. Kids
and adults need to see it. I don't understand why this
film has an "R" rating. It's the most important film
for children under 17 to see in 1995. This film adopts
the attitude Johnson does in her classroom, it speaks
to youth at their level. It uses popular music a lot
and the "F" word a few times too. If that gets young
people's attention and makes them listen up, what's
wrong with that?
Note: Score music by Wendy & Lisa. The song "Gangsta's
Paradise" by Coolio (with a sample of a Stevie Wonder
song) was a big hit from the soundtrack and was used
throughout the film.
The film was #1 at the box office the first week it
was released.
I recognized two black actors from playing bit parts
on my favorite TV show, "Picket Fences." The young female
student who gets pregnant played a female student who
gets bussed into Rome, Wisconsin in a few episodes.
The black actor who plays the principal played a District
Attorney in a multi-episode plot line about Euthanasia.
Review written in 1995
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