Great movies either make you feel euphoric or like an emotional wreck. Others teach you a thing or two. Generally, films that tug on the emotional heartstrings tend to be appreciated more by cinephiles and critics, as it takes great storytelling and exceptional acting to trigger feelings of sadness or pity. Looking back at the Best Picture nominees over the years, one will quickly realize that most selections are tearjerkers, dwelling on the ugly side of fate.
You’d think that only audiences tend to be affected by the emotional power of films. After all, we often get so lost in the proceedings that we assume some things are real. Well, actors get touched the same way. Despite spending thousands of hours on set and knowing this is all make-believe, stars still tear up when watching their favorite movies. For example, Tom Hardy confessed that his eyes watered while watching Mr. Holland’s Opus, yet he’s one person people would least expect to cry.
Mr. Holland’s Opus introduces us to the composer Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss), who believes he will create a transcendent piece of music one day, putting him in the same league as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johan Sebastian Bach. Will he? Sadly not. Throughout the film, fate throws curveballs at him like a baseball pitcher. Aside from a plague of personal challenges eclipsing his dream, everything that could go wrong with his career does.
Because there are bills to pay, Mr. Holland settles for a position as a music teacher at John F. Kennedy High School. At first, he struggles with his job because he believes he is meant for bigger things. To him, he was supposed to be performing in large halls full of society’s elite, not students. Gradually, relations improve and deepen between him and his students.
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But just as things seem to be going well, his son is found to be deaf, meaning he will never be able to listen to his father’s works. Worse still, Mr. Holland fails to learn American Sign Language properly, causing them to engage in a silent battle of wills and creating a rift between him and his wife. And it often pours when it rains, so just when you’re not sure how much more pain you can bear on behalf of the gifted teacher, the principal shuts down the school’s arts programs because of limited budgets, prioritizing reading, writing, and math.
All this only happens in the first two acts of the film. The third act goes even harder on our emotional cables. It’s easy to see why Tom Hardy, despite having played tough guys for most of his career, found himself shedding a tear.
Tom Hardy had a sitdown with Shortlist, during which he opened up about his acting style and a few strange things that happened to him. The Venom star admitted that, unlike other actors, he’s not an expert at sobbing on command.
“I find crying difficult, it takes a long time for me to go. And I won’t know what will send me. I’m quite sentimental. If my son tells me he loves me, that will make me cry.”
However, he admitted that Mr. Holland’s Opus was so powerful that it made him shed a tear. Even so, he described the whole experience as “a random anomaly.”
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The star also credited Bambi and Shrek as having nearly gotten him to that state. He is spot on about the former, as Disney’s animated classic has often been described as one of the most heartbreaking films of all time. The scene where the titular character’s mother dies is guaranteed to leave everyone inconsolable. Shrek, too, has that effect, especially when the titular character complains about the world treating him unfairly because of his looks.
How did Mr. Holland’s Opus move someone who never cries? Well, Richard Dreyfuss sinks into the role of Mr. Holland with effortless insouciance. He plays the character so well that you are forced to care. Beyond that, the film addresses challenges that cut across all people: the famous and the ordinary, the rich and the poor. Like Mr. Holland, everyone has an unfulfilled dream. Even Mr. Hardy probably wishes he had 10 Oscars. Instead, he has Venom: The Last Dance, which is getting panned by critics (though audiences are enjoying the film). On top of that, everyone has a family member they struggle to connect with, no matter how hard they try. But you never stop trying because family is everything.
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Additionally, there is the reality of settling for something you didn’t want after being pushed to the edge. Most people have had to settle for a job they didn’t particularly like or a living arrangement that didn’t suit them simply because they had no choice. Eventually, they grow to accept the circumstances and embrace them. Then there’s the worst pain of being denied the only thing you have settled for.
It’s impossible not to be furious when the principal shuts down the school’s arts programs, causing Mr. Holland to be laid off. Watching him make an impassioned plea to the Board is equivalent to sitting on thorns. Many people have been here, probably Tom Hardy too, hence why he could relate. Superbly acted and imposingly realized, Mr. Holland’s Opus is a mega-watt. This delicate, heartfelt Buena Vista gem will still drench almost anyone’s Kleenex 30 years after its release. Is it the most emotional movie ever made? There are several strong contenders, but it sure deserves to be somewhere near the top of the list. Mr. Holland’s Opus is available to stream in the US on Disney+.
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