Stand and Deliver Review

 

        It’s August so you know what that means. Back to school for some kiddos and college students. High School movies is a very particular genre since it can range from drama to musicals. What can make and break a high school movie is if the school location doesn’t feel authentic or the students being too old. And then there are those where the focus is on the teacher, usually leading a motley crew of students to academic success. I remember the first time being exposed to this film when I was in middle school. Stand and Deliver is one of those films to get the ball rolling for that sub-genre of high school films. 

1. Jaime Escalante

        This guy is the quintessential math teacher every new teacher wants to be. Edward James Olmos plays Mr. Escalante. We see him enter Garfield High and looks around the front office being covered with graffiti. He initially was hired to teach computer classes. Although the school didn’t have computers, so the principal makes him teach mathematics. 

        One would think immediately that he would be just a stick in the mud teacher and then becoming a source of inspiration for the students. He has an idea of what he’s going against, such as dealing with unruly kids and the whole classroom’s chalkboard being covered with white markings. Eventually, when he returns the following day, he gets their attention by having this comedic act. Mostly it involves having his kids call him Kemosabe which is the nickname of The Lone Ranger from the tv show of the same name.

        He has a barrio approach to him and is comedic when dealing with the students. Not stooping to their level or talking down to them but utilizing one of the students for a math problem. Like any teacher he must confront the gangster students. The one on the poster, Angel is the heart of the classroom. Escalante manages to bargain with him to be a good student and to show up in the class. So much so that Jaime gives Angel three Math books to make sure he doesn’t lose his standing in the school. 

        The overall drama that is plaguing the high school is losing their accreditation. Throughout the film, Mr. Escalante goes above and beyond to make sure the students learn calculus to pass the test and take the AP test. What works in the film is Olmos’ take on the teacher. He never loses his patience easily and works with the students to learn advanced math. The only reason why he makes them take the test is that he wants them to have the motivation or “ganas” to succeed.

        So much so that to be even more prepared, he decides to have them take summer classes. It’s the dedication in him that he wants his students to have successful careers. It’s justified since he wants them to grow beyond the stereotype of Mexicans being lazy. We see that when he is having dinner with his wife and notices that the tab is wrong. The owner calls his daughter over who appeared to drop out of school. Mr. Escalante tells the owner that his daughter has to potential to do more than working in his restaurant. 

        One thing that the film doesn't shy away from was revealing that he had to deal with petty problems involving some of the math teachers. I think it was just pettiness from them since they're jealous at how Escalante was handling his students. I like that he was willing to defend them and advocate that they should be able to be taught calculus if all of them wanted to succeed. Although, some had preconceived notions that their confidence will be ruined if the students failed. 

2. The students

        The students in Escalante’s class are also the main highlight in the film. As far as I know, mostly all of them are fictional creations. They show just how well Escalante manages to reach the kids to teach them math. It would’ve been easy to make them just one note tokens who don’t get the subject and then understand it. 

        What fixes that potential issue is that we get scenes where they are outside of school. It mostly amounts to gossiping about Escalante and just regular life stuff. I feel that the personal lives with Angel and his friend was more interesting. Since Angel kept arriving late to class and he was just driving along with his friend.

        The moment that I like is that it’s one of those rare moments when Angel is participating with the students. I’m glad that he wasn’t just a gifted prodigy who just chooses not to be smart. Instead, he accepts a bargain with the teacher and gains the respect of the students. Such as when the few of them go to the beach and Angel is just hesitant of going in the water. 

3. Overall 

        Just the fact that the movie was moderately successful, and the USPS released a special stamp of Mr. Escalante shows just how much he influenced his students. Stand and Deliver shows those rare instances where a minority teacher manages to impact his students. 

        Stand and Deliver gets a four out of five.