Love Thy Teacher (Dangerous Minds (DVD))

Member Name: Matt_Roberts

Product:	Dangerous Minds (DVD)
Date:	19/02/04 (3360 review reads)
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Dangerous Minds is often shown on ITV1, but every time it’s shown I manage to miss it. Last Friday night, though, I remembered and set the video to record it. I’d heard many a good things about it over the years, and before watching it I knew it was going to be great viewing. Michelle Pfeiffer had said it was one of the best things she’d done, and many a critic said it was the most honest film they’d seen for years. So you can imagine my delight when I finally got the opportunity to see it.

The film starts rather abruptly and dives straight into the plot. There are no frills; it just goes straight to the main story of the film, which to me is the best way to deal with any film. It begins with LouAnne Johnson (Michelle Pfeiffer), after getting an interview from her friend who also works at the school, talking to the deputy headmistress of a high school. She’s there to get a job as a student teacher, after leaving her husband and the Marines. To her surprise she’s offered a job as a qualified teacher to teach a “special needs” class, and is thrilled. But, when she walks into the classroom she realises why every other teacher has left (due to a nervous breakdown or just insanity!). None of them give her any attention and she’s ignored, and when she does finally get their attention she realises how hard they are to teach. But she does something no other teacher has done before. Stick it out. And after staying she begins to share a bond with every student in the class, and they find a friend in her.

Dangerous Minds is a very powerful drama. We don’t get to know much about LouAnne, but what we do actually get to know is crucial in the film. LouAnne’s character is a very important aspect of the film. She’s new to the life of her
students who live in the roughest of streets. They’re only in a “special needs” class because they’ve lacked so much education over the years. They’ve been ignored by everyone around them and lot allowed a proper education. That’s what other teachers before LouAnne haven’t done – put themselves in the student’s shoes. Sure, looking in, the students could come across as loud and unhelpful, but if you look deep inside it’s clear that they all really want to do well, they’ve just been held back too often. And that’s what LouAnne has an advantage with – she can see deep inside the students, and she can understand their background. She might not have lived that life, but she knows how tough life can be (having been in the Marines) and she knows how life can be. She understands that for these students life isn’t rosy. She understands the life they lead. And that’s why, for the first time, they sit back and listen to what she has to say; and remain sitting back and listen and absorb what she’s saying, because they have something for her they’ve never had for a teacher before – respect.

Some of you might be aware with the song “Gangsters Paradise” that was a major hit after the release of this film in the mid nineties. That whole song sums up the film wonderfully, and if you know some of the words to the song, you’ll know how special that song is, and how important it is to be part of the soundtrack to the film. But, what is the message in the film? Well, basically, that all of us should be treated equal. Whatever background, whatever feelings we should all get the same opportunity, and that’s our right. LouAnne is determined to make sure that all of her students graduate and get that grade they’ve all been wishing for, and that’s a
ll she wants. She dedicates her life to her students, and if it’s breaking the school’s policy she’ll still do it if it’s right for the students, because she’s there for them, and not the school.

The film was wonderfully made, and wonderfully acted by Michelle Pfeiffer; I just felt that there was a lack of plot in the film. There was a wonderful message given and shown in the film, and there were great stories on the surface they just weren’t developed well enough. I would have liked to look at the living situation of some of the students. I’d have liked to see how they lived, what their parent’s attitude was like, and some of the difficulty they went through. Sadly, though we didn’t get to see any of this, and almost all of the scenes were filmed in or around the school. We barely got to see how the students lived, and seeing that was such a big issue in the film, I would have thought it would have been a good idea to go and see how they did live. We didn’t get much of a background on LouAnne either. We learnt very little things about her, and I felt that it let the film down in so many ways. It lacked background to any of the characters, which is a shame because it succeeded in so many other parts.

The ending, again, was a bit of disappointment. It had a good enough conclusion; it just seemed to end rather abruptly. One minute they were there, next the credits were up. It was a wonderful film, with fantastic writing and wonderful acting, it’s just a shame that it was let down in so many other parts in the film. Michelle Pfeiffer was the only one that saved it in the end, and without her I don’t think the film would be as famous or passionate as it is. There’s a wonderful message in the film, and there’s great acting to be seen, just don’t expect too much (li
ke I did and had been for so long). Perfect for a Sunday night viewing.




© Matt Roberts 2004

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