Fresh
Pfeiffer gives a funny, scrappy performance that makes you feel a committed teacher's fire to make a difference.
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Dangerous Minds
She broke the rules... and changed their lives.
1995 · 1h 39m · R
Drama
Directed by
John N. Smith
Overview
Former Marine Louanne Johnson lands a gig teaching in a pilot program for bright but underachieving teens at a notorious inner-city high school. After having a terrible first day, she decides she must throw decorum to the wind. When Johnson returns to the classroom, she does so armed with a no-nonsense attitude informed by her military training and a fearless determination to better the lives of her students -- no matter what the cost.
Director and cast
- John N. Smith Director
- Michelle Pfeiffer as Louanne Johnson
- George Dzundza as Hal Griffith
- Courtney B. Vance as George Grandey
- Robin Bartlett as Carla Nichols
- Beatrice Winde as Mary Benton
- John Neville as Waiter
- Lorraine Toussaint as Irene Roberts
- Renoly Santiago as Raul Sanchero
- Wade Dominguez Cast
- Bruklin Harris Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
36%
Tomatometer
Rotten
The tale screenwriter Ronald Bass came up with, and the way director John N. Smith tells it, is stereotypical, predictable and simplified to the point of meaninglessness.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Rotten
If only the filmmakers had used some subtlety in telling the story, they could have done right by the real LouAnne Johnson.
Kevin McManus, Washington Post
Fresh
What makes it work is the integrity of Pfeiffer's performance and Smith's direction, and the high spirits of the young, racially diverse supporting cast.
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
Rotten
The movie pretends to show poor black kids being bribed into literacy by Dylan and candy bars, but actually it is the crossover white audience that is being bribed with mind-candy in the form of safe words by the two Dylans.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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