SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

thejcowboy22 Personally I had visions of Grandeur wanting to be an architect my chosen future profession. On the other hand the Math Department at Elmont Memorial High was only concerned with completing the curriculum on time before the state regent exams in June. Another words, rush or cram the material through and forget about getting the math right! My plans for my future were dashed and the dreams I had designing buildings were quashed. Geometry stood in my way like a brick wall. Barely made it through the year with a low passing grade. I wish my teacher was as enthusiastic as Jaime Escalante (Edward James Olmos) but then I wondered if I could keep up with his students and pass the AP Calculus exam with the extra ganas, (desire) provided by the colorful persistent instructor. Mr. Escalante or as he's known in his inner circle "Kemo" by his Latin students works extra hours before and after school in preparation for that big day. The story isn't only about the exam, but how each student has certain obstacles in their lives and balancing Calculus prep,regular school, family issues. Here we focus on one of the students Angel Guzman (Lou Diamond Phillips) who in the beginning was a typical East L.A. gang member running around town and getting harassed by the police, found his way in Kemo's class, (late as usual throughout the movie), prospered despite missing a day of class in a medical clinic accompanying his sickly Abuelita. Another student tells Kemo that he can make huge money driving a fork lift but the experienced Math teacher explains that in life you only see the turns but you don't see the road ahead! Another instance, a soft spoken bespectacled female Latin student who takes to the material in Kemo's class. Kemo feels she has a future in mathematics and industry. Our four eye sweety tells Kemo that her Dad is apposed to her attending college. Kemo takes his wife to her parents Mexican restaurant. Kemo promotes his daughter telling the stubborn Father she should go to college and pursue a career and not end up as a waitress in his establishment for the rest of her years. These 18 Latin students follow Kemo's road to success with some bumps in the road. Grade scores and cheating are questioned. Andy Garcia as the State representative questioned the grade scores and the classic confrontation as a ballistic Kemo threatened to beat the S--t out of the stunned Garcia. This movie wasn't sugarcoated and really showed the long hours and study needed to pass this intricate calculus exam. Kemo was demanding as he reiterated doing everything step by step. The Great inventor Thomas Edison once said,"One percent inspiration, Ninety-nine percent perspiration.

sketchyshadydude Any movie can be viewed a portal, a portal that can transport viewers to faraway places, alternate universes, or distant time periods. Although these movies started out as simple black and white projections, they have evolved into masterful cinematic experiences that defy the limits of the natural world. Today, a "good movie" typically boasts mind-blowing special effects, a deep plot line, well-known actors, or a combination of the three. These are just of few of the standards set by film-makers in the 21st century. However, I feel that it is worth recognizing films that were revolutionary in their time, not just films that live up to today's expectations. One of these films, "Stand and Deliver," is about a Calculus teacher at a local high school who turns a rag-tag group of seniors into excellent mathematicians. These students go on to take the AP Calculus exam, all earning passing scores. Although this movie is not impressive to modern-day standards, it is worth noting that at the time, passing an AP exam was very difficult, at any school. This simple, yet tremendous feat helps me appreciate the worth of the movie, despite it being outdated. Overall, "Stand and Deliver" is a likable movie because of its charismatic characters that are easy to relate to.Likable characters are important to a successful movie because they allow viewers to either relate to them or idolize them. In the case of "Stand and Deliver," there were both types of characters. Jaime Escalante, the teacher of the high school, was by no means a perfect teacher. Throughout the movie he made many mistakes, such as making a rude comment about a student's love life. He also had a heart attack just weeks before the students' exam. These downfalls show that Mr. Escalante is by no means a god or someone we are any greater or less than. He also showed his down-to-earth personality through his fun, charismatic teaching style. In one such instance Mr. Escalante created a simple algebra problem by replacing the variable "x" with the amount of "girlfriends" someone had. This did not only cause his students to like him, but the audience as well. In this sense, both parties develop a sense of respect towards him; it is very difficult for a teacher to educate and appeal to his/her students. Although Mr. Escalante is a likable main character, the supporting characters in "Stand and Deliver" demand viewers' affection as well.Likable supporting characters only add to the main character's charm because it shows how he/she affects them. For example, one of my favorite characters from the movie is a boy called Angel. Although Angel is involved with delinquent gang activities and smokes cigarettes, he shows viewers his soft interior when he is at home taking care of his sickly grandmother. On top of this, we later find out that Angel is an intellectual man who cares about his grades; although he doesn't want his friends to know this, he asks Mr. Escalante for extra textbooks so he can study wherever he is.Although movies can take us to amazing places and can let us travel with amazing heroes, but sometimes the best movies are the ones we can relate to. Although I have seen some exciting films, it's always nice to relax with one of the classics. "Stand and Deliver" is my favorite movie because it has likable characters that I can relate to. I hope reading this review will inspire you to watch the movie, as well as enjoy it as much as I did.

Saeed Mohammadi Set in East Los Angeles, 1982, Stand and Deliver tells the story of Jaime Escalante (Edward James Olmos), an enthusiastic mathematics teacher, who facing difficulties and racial discrimination, decides to teach his class Calculus and prepare his students for one of the toughest nationwide college credit exams, which only 2% of students can pass. The pivotal element helping the creation of documentary-like style of the film and bringing the challenging essence of it to the real life, is the remarkable actor in the center of the film: Edward James Olmos. Olmos, a professional actor with previous experiences on the silver screen of cinema and glass screen of TV utilizes his potentials as a Hispanic-American and also as an actor who knows the medium to give the role what it takes to look real for the audience. Ramon Menendez, director and co-writer of the film with Tom Musca, are both of Hispanic origins and they grew up in the same East L. A. area where the film takes place. They have done a great job preparing Olmos with back story and additional information on how to act. Keeping in mind that Stand and Deliver is a drama where the dramatic situation is created between characters, not between characters and environment, an organization etc., there is a huge amount of concentration on the students. In this aspect, fortunately, the roles are played delicately by young actors and actresses, all like Olmos and the director, from Hispanic origins. They all bring their characters to life, smoothly and profoundly believable. The core of student pole in the film is Angel Guzman (Lou Diamond Phillips). He is a rebellious teenager, a gang member and wears sunglasses and hair net in the class. Only after his teacher threatens them about their scary future as an uneducated minority in American society, he decides to change his attitude gradually and study, and later in the film shows a great potential in solving difficult math problems. Diamond Phillips, being 26 at the time of making the film, balances his act with 41 year old Olmos, a true professional. This counterpoint gives the film a true sense of tension at one time and stable equilibrium at another. The screenplay fails at developing side characters and this failure is intensified with the low budget of this project. Musca and Menendez decide to deepen the perspective on lives of the students attending Escalante's class, their problems and how they deal with them. This, derails the story from its main path, which is the concentration and effort Escalante and his students put to the calculus exam. Each and every time the story develops a situation about one side character it disturbs the narrative of a group facing a problem. As a matter of fact, film suffers greatly from a bi-polar situation: one pole focuses on the relationship between a teacher and his students, the other pole focuses on a group, consisting of an inspiring teacher and young rebellious students, encountering a tough and hard exam, and the film fails to concentrate on one of these poles at the same time. The film is never in peace and always en route between these two poles. This, has caused the film to be torn up in two separate and unfortunately not-so-well matched pieces. On the other hand, the low budget has affected the film negatively. Menendez could limit its film more to interiors rather than exteriors, but what we see is that in addition to a variety of exteriors, there are numerous interiors showed in the film. Menendez started his career as a film director with Stand and Deliver and the blame could go to his lack of experience. But the film disappoints audiences with showing real life; it seems that it wants to show real life situations but shows poorly designed and executed versions of real life. The worst and not acceptable scenes are ones dealing with Angel's gangster friend. When they go to sabotage a store, it is expected to show in details how they get the job done, but instead in a long shot and a with a modest panning camera, absolutely inappropriate for an action scene, the event is portrayed, completely unable to imply the tension embodied in the current act. What the film toils to discuss is the future of the Hispanic minority in an utterly unjust society, where you are blamed and questioned, even if you have tried your best and you have gained righteously. And Hispanics in this film are representative for all minorities and immigrants who live righteously and always there is a kind of suspicion about them. They are all unwanted people and no one can tolerate their success. In scene we can see that the teacher says "If this were Beverly Hills High, they wouldn't have sent you two to investigate". Stand and Deliver depicts the current situation and explains the problems and obstacles and the solution it suggests is to fight the system from within. In this film's view, the only way is, to become part of the system and gradually change it, until it is not unjust anymore. The only option is studying and becoming accepted by the rest of society, because grades are race-less and speak for themselves. Passing an exam will open doors, but many people who are already in the system want them to be closed to minorities. That's why Escalante wears his students out; he sees no bright future for them as a neglected and ignored minority, unless they prove themselves. Escalante uses various methods to inspire his students varying from reverse psychology to entertaining them by bringing a butcher knife and apples to teach them the concept of division and percentage. By all means Escalante wants to make one point: to waken their potentials and prepare them to be themselves. It is the greatest lesson he gives them all. Actually this was one big lesson for all minorities.

imbluzclooby The story of Jaime Escalante as depicted in "Stand and Deliver raises many questions about public education, the teaching profession and inner city schools. Is it an inspiring story? Yes. Is this story fully accurate shown in this movie? No. Could this movie serve as a model to encourage aspiring teachers to become better teachers? Perhaps not. Herein lies the problems not addressed in Stand and Deliver. I read several articles about the real Jaime escalante and his successful tenure at Garfield High School. After further review I conclude that this movie is loosely adapted from the true story.I read that it took Escalante 5 years to develop his Math program in progression to fully realize the positive results it had on his pupils. The movie shows these kids struggling with fractions and basic arithmetic in the beginning. By the end of the school year they are performing advanced algorithms in Calculus. This, along with a few other chronological anachronisms, are lightly covered with accuracy. I also read that he handpicked a group of students from a pool of 4000 students from various schools. So it wasn't like he was given a random set of students. How nice it would be for every teacher to select the students of their choice. So it's dubious that he was able to instill such advanced skills in these regular troubled teens as depicted in the movie. As result of this film, Escalante was elevated into celebrity status. He received several awards for his efforts as a teacher. In 1991 he left LAUSD due to jealousy from his peers and the backbiting from the bureacracy. He transferred to a high school in Sacramento unable to repeat the same magic he displayed in Los Angeles. He spent his last several years in Sacramento until his retirement, after which he moved back to obscurity to his native Bolivia.Teaching is a difficult profession with few rewards. In today's environment it's a matter of survival. Working long hours, dealing with behavioral issues, disorder and a fractured system with meager pay are enough to make any teacher leave the profession after a couple years. Is Jaime Escalante one of those rare exceptions? Can every teacher be like Jaime Escalante and achieve the same results in any academic situation? Is this movie realistic to any teacher's experience? Is being a teacher in a movie different from being a teacher in real life? Can every teenager, regardless of their aptitude and socioeconomic standing, rise to the occasion and excel given the right teacher?Unfortunately, in Stand and Deliver, all of the answers to these questions are silent.