Dangerous Minds (1995)

Director:

John N. Smith

Writers (WGA):

LouAnne Johnson (book)
Ronald Bass (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 August 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

She Broke The Rules... And Changed Their Lives.

Plot:

An ex-marine teacher struggles to connect with her students in an inner city schools.

Plot Keywords:

Student | Teacher | School | Teaching | High School

Awards:

5 wins & 5 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Feb. 18

1:00 PM

BET

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Louanne Johnson
George Dzundza	...	Hal Griffith
Courtney B. Vance	...	George Grandey
Robin Bartlett	...	Carla Nichols
Beatrice Winde	...	Mary Benton
John Neville	...	Waiter
Lorraine Toussaint	...	Irene Roberts
Renoly Santiago	...	Raul Sanchero
Wade Dominguez	...	Emilio Ramirez
Bruklin Harris	...	Callie Roberts
Marcello Thedford	...	Cornelius Bates
Roberto Alvarez	...	Gusmaro Rivera
Richard Grant	...	Durrell Benton
Marisela Gonzales	...	Angela
Toni Nichelle Buzhardt	...	Nikki

Also Known As:

My Posse Don't Do Homework (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #33926) | South Korea:15 | New Zealand:M | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | Chile:14 | Denmark:12 | Finland:K-10 | Germany:12 | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Burlingame, California, USA

Company:

Hollywood Pictures

Trivia:

One of the last films worked on by producer Don Simpson. He helped pick songs for the film soundtrack.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Raul gets dragged away by the police from his fight with Emilio you can see that his ponytail is ruined, but in the next shot when they got out of the school his ponytail was back.

Quotes:

Louanne: You asked me once how I was gonna save your life. This is it. This moment.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "30 Rock: Hard Ball (#1.15)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

HAVIN' THANGS

Surprisingly Inspirational

I had no interest in seeing this movie when it came out in 1995. It just seemed to be another movie about angry inner city youth struggling to graduate from high school. So running into this tonight, I finally decided go give in and give it a watch.

My final assessment is that although this movie bears comparison to a long list of great-teacher-inspires-kids movies, I now embrace the movie because Michelle's portrayal brings it over the top, also, I was positively impressed with Renoly Santiago's honest and sensitive reading.

It is easy, as I am ample testament, to dismiss movies that appear to be clones, but since this was reportedly based on a true story of an ex-military woman, it either demonstrates that the story does not emerge from the minds of banal-thinking writers, but from fact, or that the stories like these repeat themselves daily in the fabric of America and need to be told under as many guises as there are stories. WHY? Because all of us need inspiration and hope in our lives.