Dangerous Minds (1995)

It's your typical inspirational teacher,gangster\student type of movie very predictable.They all have almost the same story-line kind of repetitive which is why it's not really doing it for me,other than that I've nothing against it. I like the soundtrack a lot and I've to admit decent acting,good concept you might shed a tear or two if you're on the sensitive side overall not bad.

Dangerous Minds comes from that genre of inspirational (or insipid, depending on how you look at it) school dramas, particularly prevalent in the 90s where the unorthodox new teacher whips a ragtag group of talented, but misguided, behavioral problem students into shape, and instills the importance of self worth through education into them. If I were to stop right here, this could be a review for any number of films, like the much loved Dead Poets Society, Freedom Writers, etc. however, Dangerous Minds falls somewhat short, especially when compared to Dead Poets. Were this movie not purportedly based on a real story, it's likely that it wouldn't have been as successful as it was. I haven't read the source book, "My Posse Don't Do Homework", but, having gone through a public school with plenty of behavioral issues and unruly kids, I can imagine that my experiences with the system are similar enough to anywhere else.Michelle Pfeiffer plays LouAnne Johnson (the real life author of "My Posse"), an ex marine in the midst of marital troubles who takes up a teaching position in a Palo Alto CA public school- a class where the problem children are sent to languish before the inevitable drop out. The woman of slight build, but strong character is naturally taken as a joke to the hardened students that take pride in running teachers off and governing their anarchic classroom with chaos. We all know the story here- the aforementioned unorthodox teacher and the misfit children discovering the joy of learning... and yet, Dangerous Minds introduces a radical idea to this mix: "You can't save me from my life". See, in this inner city school, many of the students are involved in illegal activities, whether it's gang related, drugs, theft, everything. We see their unfortunate circumstances come up with Ms, Johnson's visits to their homes, and it paints a visceral picture of what life outside of school is like for many in the urban scape.The previous quote brings up something really revolutionary, though- and that it's not necessarily the education system that's done these students wrong, but society itself for having created the environment in which they were born and raised in- forming a self fulfilling prophecy of "doomed to repeat it". Throughout the course of the movie, the students do indeed discover their abilities for themselves and their ethic, at least as it relates to school, improves dramatically. The interest in learning is piqued, and Ms Johnson has done her duty, whipped them into shape, and made college material out of all of them. Wrong. The movie then drops a bomb on the viewer, and shows that no matter what may change inside the walls of the school, the lives of the students outside of the school are beyond the scope of any help that Ms. Johnson can give. This is where Dangerous Minds completely fails- it paints a nihilistic picture that no matter what actually transpires in the classroom, the impact of others- parents, friends, society, doesn't matter if the opportunities weren't there to begin with. It's not commentary on the poor, uneducated, minority masses of ultra- dense urban cities, but merely a hint at it. We can infer that no difference has been made for the students outside of the classroom, because their problems outside of it still exist, and we're told this in a very explicit way. Show, not tell would have added some nuance to this movie, but these outside issues are brushed over in favor of the feel-mostly-good ending, but at the end, ask yourself- has anything really changed for the students?

LouAnne Johnson (Michelle Pfeiffer) is a marine getting a divorce from her abusive husband. Her friend Hal Griffith (George Dzundza) gets her a job at his high school. She's shocked to find her class full of problem kids bused in from the poor part of the city. Principal Grandey is uncaring and insists on people knock on his door. Emilio Ramírez is the most problematic student. Callie Roberts is the smart one. LouAnne tries to help Raúl Sanchero as well as her other students. She uses karate, Bob Dylan, rewards and poetry to get to her kids.This is another one of those cliché white savior teacher genre. I don't have any complaints about Pfeiffer or any of the kids' acting. I really like Renoly Santiago and Bruklin Harris. The main problem is the simplistic ideas being presented. The story isn't the most compelling. I am glad that LouAnne doesn't fall in love with another teacher. Her friendship with Hal is quite refreshing. It's too bad that the movie trots out all the old standards without adding anything new.

I wish I had never watched it. Nothing from this movie came out original. Having watched a bunch of "inspirational teacher movies" this one came out lame. The teacher was rather annoying and nosy rather that truly caring and genuine. She was an ex-marine? She didn't look the part and didn't show any sign that she was ever under the rigid and disciplined Marine training. It would have been good if she used some Marine techniques in disciplining her students instead of using Bob Dylan poems to inspire her students. What was the point of making a weak copy cat of "To Sir With Love?" This movie is a sad one. A really sad movie as it should never have been made.