Where to watch Mr. Holland's Opus online

Storyline

In 1965, passionate musician Glenn Holland takes a day job as a high school music teacher, convinced it's just a small obstacle on the road to his true calling: writing a historic opus. As the decades roll by with the composition unwritten but generations of students inspired through his teaching, Holland must redefine his life's purpose.

Released

1995-12-29
Revenue

$106,300,000
Budget

$31,000,000
Runtime

2hr 23m
Genre

Drama, Music
Status

Released
Language

English
7.3
Production

Hollywood Pictures, Interscope Communications, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, The Charlie Mopic Company

Crew

Stephen Herek

Director

Patrick Sheane Duncan

Writer

Robert W. Cort

Producer

Keywords:

high school husband wife relationship composer music teacher mentor deaf-mute portland, oregon marching band teacher student relationship high school teacher disabled teaching retirement party sign languages forced retirement 1960s 1990s father son relationship student crush on teacher inspiring teacher

Stream and watch Mr. Holland's Opus

similar movies

Driving Miss Daisy

About the Looking for and the Finding of Love

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Human Nature

Popular Music

Sissi

Sissi: The Young Empress

Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress

As It Is in Heaven

My Own Private Idaho

Drugstore Cowboy

The Promised Land

Fire

The Blues Brothers

Escape from East Berlin

8 Mile

Walk the Line

Billy Elliot

Open Hearts

Three Colors: Blue

Cast

Richard Dreyfuss

Glenn Holland

Glenne Headly

Iris Holland

Jay Thomas

Bill Meister

Olympia Dukakis

Principal Jacobs

William H. Macy

Vice Principal Gene Wolters

Alicia Witt

Gertrude Lang

Terrence Howard

Louis Russ

Damon Whitaker

Bobby Tidd

Jean Louisa Kelly

Rowena Morgan

Alexandra Boyd

Sarah Olmstead

Nicholas John Renner

Cole at 6 Years Old

Joseph Anderson

Cole at 15 Years Old

Anthony Natale

Cole at 28 Years Old

Joanna Gleason

Gertrude Lang as an adult

Beth Maitland

Deaf School Principal

Patrick Fong

Study Hall Student

Benjamin J. Dixon

Mr. Mims

Kathryn Arnett

Ms. Swedlin

Freeman O. Corbin

Mr. Sullivan

Moira Feeney

Ms. Godfrey

Joshua Minnick

Mr. Shapiro

Ashley Hamrick

Miss Reeves

Janine Shouse

Miss Schumaker

Spencer Riviera

Mr. Hosta

Dan Vhay

Mr. Malone

Sean Bevington

Mr. McMartin

John Henry Redwood

Mr. Russ

Ted Roisum

Dr. Sorenson

Mark Daniels

Ralph

Kaili Carlton

Ms. Wayne

Adam Fitzhugh

Mr. McKenzie

Eric Michael Cole

Boy 2

Joe Campbell

Boy 3

Tomiko Peirano

Girl 2

Kasey Nelson

Girl 3

Zoe McLellan

Girl 4

Kelly M. Casey

Deaf School Teacher

Michael Mendelson

Chaplain

Alex Dudgeon

Auditioner 1

Rachel Wooley

Auditioner 2

Jordan Carlton

Auditioner 3

Aurora Miller

Auditioner 4

Paul Bernard

Auditioner 5

Mary Kay O'Mealy

Auditioner 6

Dieffyd Gilman-Frederick

Auditioner 7

Tara Eng

Auditioner 8

Jay Frank

Auditioner 9

Conan Doherty

Toby Klein

Stacey Siegel

Diner Waitress

Nicolas Sirianni

Football Player 1

Jacob Adams

Football Player 2

Chris Marth

Football Player 3

Brent Archie

Football Player 4

Kevin Calaba

Football Player 5

Keith Swift

Football Player 6

John Boyer

Billy Faraday

Linda Williams Janke

Secretary

David Clegg

Superintendent

Don Burns

City Official

Dennis Biasi

Adult Stadler

Alexander Emmert

1st Chair Cellist

Cazzey Louis Cereghino

Graduate (uncredited)

Michael R. Ferraro

Auditorium extra (uncredited)

Elizabeth Fournier

Woman in audience (uncredited)

Balthazar Getty

Stadler (uncredited)

Forest Whitaker

Bobby Tidd as an adult (uncredited)

Videos and Photos

Movie Reviews

Reviews for Mr. Holland's Opus

A Review by Wuchak 7

Written by Wuchak on 2019-05-29

***Taking a bypass from your dreams and finding your true calling*** A composer (Richard Dreyfuss) puts his lofty ambitions on hold to be... read more

A Review by FilipeManuelNeto 8

Written by FilipeManuelNeto on 2023-09-12

**Another good film about an outstanding teacher marking the lives of his students... another one.** One of the things I like most about ... read more

**Another good film about an outstanding teacher marking the lives of his students... another one.** One of the things I like most about a film, in addition to telling a good story and positively entertaining us for an hour or two, is to reflect on different subjects and themes. This exercise of critical questioning, free and reachable to the public, much more attractive than a six-hundred-page book, is one of the most important qualities of cinema. And this film has lots of themes and topics worthy of our reflection. First, I should say that the film is very good! It is very forgotten today and deserves to be revisited. It is, I think, the best film of Stephen Herek, an average director, more focused on TV, actually. The merit of the film falls, largely, on the great quality of the script by Patrick Sheane Duncan, who created the story of a composer who becomes a music teacher at a high school to earn some income and ends up marking several generations of students, teaching them to love music while trying to protect and support their own son, who was born deaf. In addition to a deep and moving story, we have good actors working in a very committed way: Richard Dreyfuss may be an actor who is a little far from the spotlight, but he gives us an extraordinary performance in this film and was nominated for the Oscar (he lost to Nick Cage, who shone in “Leaving Las Vegas” in a more psychologically challenging role). Glenne Headly and a young Terrence Howard gave him welcome and very solid support. The film moves us with its story, highlighting the importance of music and the relevance of artistic education. In a society where, more and more, we are appreciated for the money we earn to our employers (or companies, or countries), the arts and human sciences (history and philosophy, for example) are underappreciated because they are considered to have very few professional opportunities and practical applicability. The situation could not be more unfair: the human sciences teach us to think, to have a critical conscience and a vast general culture, while the arts transmit us an aesthetic sense and a capacity for self-expression that, unlike writing, tends to be universally intelligible. It's a shame that human resources directors often turn out to be such obtuse people, with such short horizons. The film addresses deafness in an interesting way, showing us that even a deaf person can appreciate music and that deafness is no impediment to an active and happy life. The film has only two major problems: the first problem, and for me the most serious, is falling back on the older clichés about school films involving teachers, and all the impact they have. This was done, much more effectively, in “Dead Poets Society” and “Mona Lisa Smile”. At this point, the most essential of the plot, there is nothing original. The second problem is that unreasonable romantic tension between Holland and one of his young and seductive students. We all know that the relationship between a student and her teacher is one of the most appealing erotic fantasies among middle-aged men, and I can understand why they included that sub-plot, but it's beside the point and should never have been included in the final cut.

Read Full Review (The thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely those of the reviewer.)

A Review by Wuchak

***Taking a bypass from your dreams and finding your true calling*** A composer (Richard Dreyfuss) puts his lofty ambitions on hold to become a high school music teacher in Portland, Oregon, from 1965-1995. Glenne Headly plays his wife, ...