Well this movie was a giant hit when it was released at the cinema (many moons ago), so I guess most people would have heard of ?Dangerous Minds?, or at least the fabulous sound track that accompanied it. Set in a school in inner city USA, there are none of the suburban niceties that exist for middle class America here. The students that attend this school are poor and their pre programmed life looms ahead of them. Very few of these students will escape the poverty to which they have been born into and they know it. Louanne Johnston (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) is a newly divorced early thirties woman looking to regain her life, she applies for a teaching job at the local high school and is offered an ?academy class?. Louanne is told these kids are bright and need special attention to learn. She is not warned of any of the shortcoming these kids have and on her first day she is shocked at what she sees.

Louanne is determined to help these kids and in the process she helps herself. Her unorthodox methods get the attention of the kids and they are intrigued into learning from her. Unfortunately she also gets the unwanted attention of the opinionated headmaster who forbids Louanne from deviating from the set curriculum. Louanne walks a thin line between breaking the rules and teaching, but her methods gain the trust of the students and she triumphs in many ways.

Luanne?s students live in a very different world to the teaching staff and she knows certain rules will just not work in this school. This is highlighted to her on several occasions, but Mr Grandy the headmaster, learns the most heartbreaking lesson, when Louanne suggests to one of her students that he should speak to the headmaster to get help dealing with a drug dealer who has threatened to kill him. Mr Grandy sends the student away without asking what he wanted because he didn?t knock on the door first and the student is later killed in the street. Louanne is forced to rethink her position at the school and realises there is only so much she can do to help, without making it worse.

This movie won critical acclaim many times over when it was released and is a must see if you have not already watched it. The acting was brilliant and the setting and plot were very real. This is a movie that will confront the audience and is not a warm fuzzy story. Michelle Pfeiffer, (and actually the whole cast) is phenomenal in this movie and the performance portrays this world of violence, poverty and failure extremely well. Costumes and set design work fabulously well and create the perfect environment for this story. Don?t miss this movie it?s great and definitely one to add to the collection. Rated M this is not a soft movie and many of the scenes and language that earned this rating also make the movie the success that it is.

CONCLUSION

Well this movie was a giant hit when it was released at the cinema (many moons ago), so I guess most people would have heard of ?Dangerous Minds?, or at least the fabulous sound track that accompanied it. Set in a school in inner city USA, there are none of the suburban niceties that exist for middle class America here. The students that attend this school are poor and their pre programmed life looms ahead of them. Very few of these students will escape the poverty to which they have been born into and they know it. Louanne Johnston (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) is a newly divorced early thirties woman looking to regain her life, she applies for a teaching job at the local high school and is offered an ?academy class?. Louanne is told these kids are bright and need special attention to learn. She is not warned of any of the shortcoming these kids have and on her first day she is shocked at what she sees.