Envers et contre tous

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.

"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.

There are many films about teachers breaking through to tough students. Many are trite, sappy and formula-written. This is one of the few truly powerful films in this genre. Every member of the cast gives an incredible performance. This is particularly true of the students. Adult writers in this genre usually fail to write convincing adolescent dialogue, but the students in this film talked and acted quite convincingly. The role of the teacher was not glorified, but treated as a regular human being who was doing his best to do something good, sometimes in the right way and sometimes in the wrong way. The race subplot was powerful, but not too preachy. In short, this was an excellent and inspiring story of teachers and students overcoming their shortcomings and being the best that they could be. A stunning and vastly underrated film.

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!

Stand and Deliver has several messages and Edward James Olmos delivers an outstanding performance. Every time I watch it, it leaves me with a good feeling of achievement. I think Mr. Jaime Escalante deserves all the recognition for proving that all kids will rise to whatever level of expectation they are put on. If we lower the levels to the least common denominator, that's as far as they will get. But if we raise it, they can accomplish anything. All they need is GANAS or desire to succeed and a good teacher to motivate them. This should be required material for every school teacher. We need more constructive movies like this instead of the trash that Hollywood is producing lately