Stand and Deliver **** (1988, Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Phillips, Rosana DeSoto, Estelle Harris, Mark Phelan, Andy Garcia) – Classic Movie Review 13,140

Stand and Deliver (1988)

‘At a tough school, someone had to take a stand… one teacher (Edward James Olmos) and one class proved to America they could… Stand and Deliver (1988).’

‘At a tough school, someone had to take a stand… and someone did. Together, one teacher and one class proved to America they could… Stand and Deliver.’

Co-writer/ director Ramón Menéndez’s 1988 drama film Stand and Deliver stars Edward James Olmos, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Rosana DeSoto, with Estelle Harris, Mark Phelan, Andy Garcia, Ingrid Oliu, and Karla Montana.

The old tale about the tough teacher taming the troublemakers is given a fresh new gloss by the intense and committed playing of Edward James Olmos as Jaime Escalante, a high school maths master determined to turn his Hispanic pupils into high fliers, inspiring his dropout-type students to learn calculus.

Stand and Deliver may be a bit predictable and lacking in humour, but it is brilliantly sustained by Olmos’s Oscar-nominated tour-de-force performance, with considerable help from young Lou Diamond Phillips as a rebellious student, Angel Guzman.

In the UK it was cert 15 (original rating) and then PG 1989, video rating).

Runtime: 103 minutes.

Release dates: February 13, 1988 (Miami International Film Festival), March 11, 1988 (US), November 12, 1988 (BFI London Film Festival) and November 18, 1988 (UK).

Stand and Deliver is directed by Ramón Menéndez, runs 103 minutes, is made by American Playhouse, is released by Warner Bros, is written by Ramón Menéndez and Tom Musca, is shot by Tom Richmond, is produced by Tom Musca, and is scored by Craig Safan.

Olmos remained close friends with the real Jaime Escalante until Escalante’s death on 30 March 2010.

Olmos said he wrote most of his dialogue with Jaime Escalante, Escalante said the film was ’90 per cent truth, and 10 per cent drama.’

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,140

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