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{{Infobox_Film |

name=Dangerous Minds |

imdb_id=0112792 |

image= Dangerous minds.jpg|

caption= Theatrical release poster|

writer=LouAnne JohnsonRonald Bass |

starring=Michelle Pfeiffer |

director=John N. Smith |

producer=Don Simpson Jerry Bruckheimer |

music=Wendy & Lisa |

distributor=Hollywood Pictures |

released=USA August 11, 1995Australia November 24, 1995UK January 16, 1996 |

runtime=99 min. |

country=|

language=English Spanish||

movie_series_label=Tagline |

movie_series=''She Broke The Rules... And Changed Their Lives. '' |

rating=R |

budget = |

gross = $179,519,401 |

awards = |

''Dangerous Minds'' (1995) is an American drama film based on the autobiography ''My Posse Don't Do Homework'' by former U.S. Marine LouAnne Johnson, who took up a teaching position at Carlmont High School in Belmont, California, where most of her students were African-American and Hispanic teenagers from East Palo Alto, a then-unincorporated town at the opposite end of the school district.

The film, starring Michelle Pfeiffer as LouAnne Johnson, was released to mixed critical reception, but became a surprise box office success in the summer of 1995, leading to the creation of a short-lived television series of the same name.

Plot

LouAnne Johnson (Michelle Pfeiffer), a retired U.S. Marine, applies for a teaching job at Parkmont High School in California, and is surprised and pleased to be offered the position with immediate effect. Turning up the next day to begin teaching, however, she finds herself confronted with a classroom of tough, sullen teenagers, all from lower-class and underprivileged backgrounds, involved in gang warfare and drug pushing, flatly refusing to engage with anything. They immediately coin the nickname ''White Bread'' for LouAnne, due to her Caucasian appearance and apparent lack of authoritativeness, to which LouAnne responds by returning the next day in a leather jacket and teaching them karate. The students show some interest in such activities, but immediately revert to their former behaviour when LouAnne tries to teach the curriculum.

Desperate to ''get them,'' LouAnne devises classroom exercises that teach similar principles to the prescribed work, but using themes and language that appeal to the streetwise students. She also tries to motivate them by giving them all an A grade from the beginning of the year, and arguing that the only thing required of them is that they maintain it. In order to introduce them to poetry, LouAnne uses the lyrics of Bob Dylan's 'Mr. Tambourine Man' to teach symbolism and metaphor; once this is achieved, she progresses on to Dylan Thomas's 'Do not go gentle into that good night'. LouAnne rewards the students liberally, using candy bars, reward incentives, and an entire school trip to a theme park. Her methods attract the anger of the school authorities, George Grandey (Courtney B. Vance) and Carla Nichols (Robin Bartlett), who try to force her to remain within the curriculum.

Particular individual students attract LouAnne's attention for their personal problems. Callie Roberts (Bruklin Harris) is an unusually bright girl who excels at English, but is removed from the school halfway through the semester when she becomes pregnant. LouAnne visits her outside of school hours to try and persuade her to continue with further education. Raúl Sanchero (Renoly Santiago) is a well-meaning boy who is frequently involved in gang warfare and street crime. LouAnne tries to encourage him to focus by paying a special visit to his family to congratulate him on his work, and going to dinner with him as a way of instilling confidence and self-respect. Emilio Ramírez (Wade Domínguez) is her most troublesome personal project, as he believes strongly in a sense of personal honour that prevents him from asking for help. When LouAnne discovers that his life is in danger because of a personal grudge held by a recently-released thug, she tries to protect him, but due to the cold attitude of the school, he is abandoned at the crucial moment and is subsequently killed.

At the end of the year, she announces to the class that she will not be continuing to teach at the school, which prompts an unbridled display of emotion from the students who refuse to let her leave. Overwhelmed, she reconsiders the decision.

Cast

Production

The actual school at which LouAnne Johnson taught, Carlmont High School in Belmont, California, was used as a filming location, along with Burlingame High School, San Mateo High School and Washington Middle School.

Release

At the MTV Movie Awards 1996, ''Dangerous Minds'' was nominated in four categories: Best Movie, Best Female Performance (Michelle Pfeiffer), Most Desirable Female (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Best Movie Song (Coolio).

Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman (Wendy & Lisa), best known for their work with Prince in the 1980s, had their first experience of film scoring on ''Dangerous Minds''.

Television series

The commercial success of the film prompted the creation of a spin-off television series, ''Dangerous Minds'', featuring Annie Potts in the role of LouAnne Johnson. The series premiered on ABC on September 30, 1996 and ended on March 15, 1997, after one season of seventeen episodes.