Dangerous Minds (1995)

The early 90's were littered with dramas that were featured in a classroom with inner city kids and teachers who were trying to make a difference (e.g. One Eight Seven, Lean On Me, Stand and Deliver). It's also kind of sad when you know the big hit song from a film (Gangstas Paradise by Coolio), but you still have never seen it which is why I decided to check out Dangerous Minds which was released in 1995 and was directed by John N. Smith (The Boys of St. Vincent). The film stars Michelle Pfeiffer (The Age of Innocence) as Louanne Johnson, an ex-marine who just wants to get a job as a teacher so she accepts one at a high school. What she doesn't realize is that her class is full of poor inner city kids who are bused into the school for this one class. So, she decides that she is going to try her best to make a difference for them before it's too late. The film also stars George Dzundza (The Deer Hunter) as Hal Griffith, Courtney B. Vance (The Hunt For Red October) as Mr. Grandey, Robin Bartlett (Lean On Me) as Ms. Nichols, Lorraine Toussaint (Orange Is The New Black) as Irene Roberts, Renoly Santiago (Hackers) as Raul, Wade Dominguez (City Of Industry) as Emilio, Bruklin Harris (Juice) as Callie, Marcello Thedford (Employee Of The Year) as Cornelius,  Richard Grant as Durrell, and Marisela Gonzales as Angela.

One thing I will say about this film is that it is definitely not better than any of the films that I mentioned in the article. First of all, the story is just awful in my opinion because there is no risk/reward really involved here other than the fact that one character may parish because he's too involved in the streets. She succumbs to everything they want because that is her way of getting them to pay attention. Well, she definitely did not go to the same school of thought as Joe Louis Clark (Lean On Me) or even Trevor Garfield (One Eight Seven) because both did not take any flack from any of the students and I get one is based on a true person and the other is fiction, but we were watching a film here. The acting from some of the characters in the film was also pretty ameuturish and it's no wonder a lot of them didn't do a lot, but that is not discounting everyone. There were definitely some stand outs in the film like Bruklin Harris or even Wade Dominguez even though he acted like he was too tough. I want to say that this film is worth at least one watch, but I definitely think this is one film you could do without unless you like Michelle Pfeiffer then that is totally up to you in the end. That is why I have decided that the final grade to the film is what I consider to be fair because I am giving it an C+ and that is generous.