Review of Mr. Holland`s Opus

Introduction

It`s been a while since the fabulous acting talents of Mr Dreyfuss have graced our screen with anything but indifference and trite. Mr who? you say. You know the shark expert from Jaws, the crazy love struck cop in Stake Out or the man who set foot inside those badly tuned flying saucers in Close Encounters. I can here you all saying "Oh that Mr Dreyfuss".

He`s chosen a few turkeys since those halcyon days but came back to us with this poignant little flick a number of years ago. The story of a musician who becomes a teacher to free up extra time so he can write his own concerto his "opus". Things don`t quite go to plan, as he spends extra time helping students and even starting a family of his own. I don`t want to give too much away as there are some genuine surprises in store and learning how Mr Holland copes is the real story of this film.

Video

A slightly grainy look which fits with the switching decades, Forrest Gump documentary style.

Black are still solid and whites are sharp with only slight halos on the really bright spots.

Macro blocking is kept to a minimum and only visible on solid colour areas.

Audio

A very respectable Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack that delivers great fidelity and clear dialogue. Matrixed bass is used to good effect for the music.

Features

Just a trailer!

Conclusion

A great return to form for Dreyfuss but a poor transfer and little imagination on the extras fail to make this disc anything but mediocre.