Mr. Holland's Opus is a 1995 drama film in which Richard Dreyfuss plays Glenn Holland, a musician and composer who takes a teaching job to pay the rent while trying to compose one memorable piece of music to make him famous. The plot follows his teaching career over a thirty year span. The film features American history from the 1960s to the 1990s, including the Vietnam war, assassination of John Lennon, and the Watergate Scandal. The story also deals with the issues of attitudes towards the deaf and the cutting of arts programs in public schools across the United States.

The film features an orchestral score by Michael Kamen and many pieces of classical music. Kamen also wrote An American Symphony, the work Mr. Holland is shown working on throughout the movie.

The movie was written by Patrick Sheane Duncan (for which he received a Golden Globe nomination) and directed by Stephen Herek. Dreyfuss was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. It also stars Glenne Headly, Jay Thomas, Olympia Dukakis, William H. Macy, Alicia Witt, Terrence Howard, Jean Louisa Kelly, and Joanna Gleason.

This movie was rated PG, for mild language (including cursing in American Sign Language) by the MPAA.

In the United States, gross domestic takings totalled US$ 82,569,971. International takings are estimated at $23,700,000, for a gross worldwide takings of $106,269,971.

Glenn Holland (Dreyfuss) is a musician and composer who takes a teaching job to pay the rent while, in his 'spare time', he can strive to achieve his true goal - compose one memorable piece of music to leave his mark on the world. As Holland discovers 'Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans' and as the years unfold the joy of sharing his contagious passion for music with his students becomes his new definition of success. Written by