Review #2

Dangerous Minds

Dangerous Minds is a 1995 American drama/hood film directed by John N. Smith, and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer.The film was released to an overwhelmingly negative critical reception, but became a surprise box office success in the summer of 1995, leading to the creation of a short-lived television series.

In this drama, a school teacher discovers that it takes more than the ABCs to get through to a class of "uneducatable" kids. When Lou Anne Johnson (Michelle Pfeiffer), a nine-year veteran of the Marine Corps with a degree in education, begins a new job at an inner-city school in California, the principal (George Dzundza) warns her that her class will be the "rejects from Hell" -- kids with severe social problems and no interest in education. While at first her African-American and Latino students scoff at Lou Anne, she ultimately gets them to open up to learning and literature, through a combination of bribery (candy bars) and intimidation (her karate training from the Marines comes in handy), and she's able to reach out to the students who need her the most: Callie (Bruklin Harris), a bright girl who believes she's thrown away her future when she becomes pregnant; Emilio (Wade Dominquez), a macho bully whose violence is stifling his academic potential; and Raul (Renoly Santiago), the brightest kid in the class, who is afraid to show his intelligence.

It really touched my heart, because I felt for Michelle's character. How hard it is to want to get into a student's life, but you can't because otherwise, you have stepped out of line. She was above the system and was truly a good person who wanted to just help her students.That's how she changed students' lives.  I loved it's message of how a person can either choose to stay down or hold their head high.

In conclusion I'd like to say that all in all, this is a very good movie that is not afraid of portraying the gritty and tough suburban outlooks of inner city school life, as seen through the eyes of the pupils themselves and Louanne Johnston herself. Dangerous Minds is at times challenging and through-provoking and whereas it can often be a tad preachy, it still packs a mean punch.