Stand and Deliver

Do you remember one teacher who made things fun and interesting? Made you love to learn. Jaime Escalante, the main character and hero of "Stand and Deliver" is exactly that type of teacher. He has some eccentricities: he has a strange walk, sometimes talks to himself, and has strange ways of getting his points across. The important thing is: his teaching methods are interesting and efficacious.

Edward James Olmos, in the greatest performance of his career, is magnificent as Jaime Escalante. He has come to the barrio Garfield High School to teach computer science, after giving up a better paying job in the private sector. He has one problem: the computers haven't come yet. He wants to teach math. He is surprised at the problems he sees at the school, most notably the crimes, violence, and indifference to learning. The scene where he notices the radio missing from his car after his first day is especially humorous, without being too silly.

Mr Escalante, who is himself Latino, finds himself teaching a lot of latino and hispanic students from similar backgrounds. He wants them to be the best they can be, and be proud of their heritage. When he suggests teaching them Calculus, he is told by the head of the department that it will destroy the students morale, because of their lack of education and it's too much to expect. He responds with the perfect answer "students will rise to the level of expectations." This is what a great teacher does: he refuses to write the students off as losers. If you tell them they're going to be failures, that's all they'll ever be.

The students do rise to the occasion, after working all through the summer to learn the mathematical rigors of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry, they're ready for the AP Calculus test. Every student who takes the test passes. Unfortunately, through "anomalies" that were detected (but no real, solid proof) the Educational Testing Services suspects they cheated. We do know, however, that they did not cheat.

This is where the movie raises interesting questions, and also makes meaningful statements. When a very discouraged Escalante talks the matter over with his wife, she is very supportive and understanding, telling him that no matter what, the kids are getting an education, and they learned. He responds, "Yeah, they learned that if you worked real hard, nothing changes." I loved it when Mr Escalanted confronts the two members of the Educational Testing Service, who, no matter how rational their reasoning may be, cannot give a single, valid reason to support their suspicions that the students cheated. Escalante gets angry, and rightfully so, saying "You can't prove anything, my kids didn't do anything." "If these kids didn't have Spanish surnames or come from a barrio school, these scores would have never been questioned!" We can identify with his anger, and know he is justified.

By the end of the movie, which I won't give away, and everything comes full circle, it's very satisfying. What makes this movie work is not only that students learn, but we actually like watching them enjoy the process. Unlike "Dead Poets Society" where the students only wind up liking the teacher, and not the subject, in "Stand and Deliver" the students actually appreciate math and the teacher. Perhaps the most important quality the movie teaches us is that of belief. If you believe in people, even the academically disadvantaged, and are willing to give them a boost, and push them as far as their abilities will go, you really can succeed.

I really enjoyed this movie. I was watching it on PBS one late night. I am really glad that PBS endorses this film. It is such an influence for kids to do well in school. I hope that it influences teachers to be more supportive and teach better, although I don't have much faith anymore in our broken school systems nowadays. But I still believe in HOPE! I, personally, am not a minority, but you just really hoped the best for the kids in this film. Watching this film, you really get on their side and you really want them to do well. They all have their ups and downs and their home lives are not perfect. The role of Edward James Olmos as Kimo is simply unforgettable. You really admire how Kimo sticks by his kids 100 percent. Teachers like that are so rare. I hope there are teachers like that to pass the torch down to other teachers in the next generation. I look forward to seeing this movie again!

Sure it's firmly implanted in the cloying Inspirational Teacher sub genre but I confess to a soft spot for this film since, after watching it, I felt inspired to get up off my Great Late 30s ass and start the process that landed me back in the classroom. Literally saved my life. And Olmos is fantastic.

Back when I was the age of these kids that Jaime Escalante taught I wish I had a math teacher who could have made it as interesting and challenging as he did for the barrio kids he taught in East Los Angeles's Garfield High School.

Stand and Deliver is one of the best films of the Eighties and one of the most inspiring I've ever seen. Anyone who could get kids fired up about algebra and calculus as Edward James Olmos as Jaime Escalante did has my undying respect.

Olmos is one of those rare teachers whose very presence in the lives of his students makes them change. So many I had back in the day were just time serving bureaucrats, little better than clerks who took attendance. Of course I had some good ones too, but not in mathematics, I was kind of hopeless in that subject.

But something that I didn't realize about math then, but that Olmos says and Stand and Deliver emphasizes is that math is the great equalizer. There's no cultural bias in math, no interpretative spins on it, you either know it and do it or you don't. It does help to develop the gray cells, no doubt about it.

The Mexican-American kids he teaches in Garfield High School have it in their minds they'll be filling station attendants, fast food cooks, or day laborers, striving for better is not something they think about. More than teaching them math skills, we are shown how Olmos makes them believe in themselves and their potential. It's certainly a better life lesson than anything else. I doubt any of Escalante's kids at parties do quadratic equations for entertainment.

Lou Diamond Phillips has a supporting role in this film which was made earlier than his breakout role in La Bamba, but released later. Of course his billing was adjusted as befit his new star status. He's very good as the kid who makes a deal with Olmos for three textbooks, one for home, one for class, and one for his locker just so his image among his home boys is kept secure. After all as Olmos says, we wouldn't want anyone to get the idea you're really smart.

Rosanna DeSoto who was LDP's mother in La Bamba is Olmos's wife in Stand and Deliver, loyal and supportive. Other good performances are from Carmen Argenziano as Olmos's supportive school principal and of the kids besides Phillips, you will love young Vanessa Marquez.

Andy Garcia and Rif Hutton play a couple of educators from the Educational Testing Service, read Standardized Aptitude Test (SAT) who can't quite believe what Olmos has accomplished with these barrio kids. Has to be something wrong here. You have to see the film to see what comes out of their questioning Olmos's competence and integrity.

Edward James Olmos was nominated for Best Actor in 1988. Unfortunately he was up against a singularly unique performance by Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. The real Jaime Escalante no longer teaches in the USA. A few years ago Escalante went back to Bolivia to give back a little to the people from where he came. That's entirely in keeping with the character of this man that Stand and Deliver tells the story of.

One of the most inspirational films ever made, don't ever miss it when broadcast.

"Stand and Deliver" is a strong film which is based on a true story. Edward James Olmos received an Oscar nomination as Jaime Escalante, a man who has decided to teach in a Los Angeles school after quitting a high-paying technological job. Escalante is a man who could be described as a "Patton of the classroom". He will do anything and everything to teach his Hispanic students the complicated mathematics of Calculus so they can pass a test which will give them college credit. This is Olmos' show all the way. He proved to be a dominant actor here and it is he who makes the film believable and overall exceptional. The supporting cast is good, led by a young Lou Diamond Phillips. A solid screenplay and smart direction make "Stand and Deliver" a forgotten winner from the 1980s. 4 stars out of 5.