Dangerous Minds
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: August 11, 1995 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
11
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
And Pfeiffer gives a funny, scrappy performance that makes you feel a committed teacher's fire to make a difference. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Dangerous Minds doesn't drop the sentimental conventions of the good-teacher Hollywood drama but reconstitutes them with strong performances, sensitive direction by Canadian film maker John N. Smith ("The Boys of St. Vincent") and a firm belief that teachers can and will make a difference in a person's life. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Though it lacks the sensational pizzazz of "Blackboard Jungle", the politics here are arguably somewhat better, and the supporting cast -- George Dzundza, Courtney P. Vance, Robin Bartlett, Beatrice Winde -- isn't bad either. Read full review
60
The New YorkerTerrence Rafferty
But the cut-to-the-enlightenment dramaturgy of Ronald Bass's screenplay feels desperate and false. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
In the case of Dangerous Minds, we get an idealized version of inner city life, where, though problems may require more than the wave of a magic wand to remove, the solutions still seem too facile. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
It's all quite inspiring, but despite the fact that this is based on someone's actual experiences, the whole thing has an unfortunate Hollywood ring to it. Read full review
50
Washington PostKevin McManus
The sweet story turns stickygooey, however, as writer Ronald Bass sprinkles the script with saccharine lines that sound plain dumb coming from high schoolers. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
While films are admired for making fantasy real, some manage a reverse, unwanted kind of alchemy, turning involving reality into meaningless piffle. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineStaff(not credited)
Director John N. Smith, who helmed last year's masterly "The Boys of St. Vincent", is reduced to carrying Michelle Pfeiffer's baggage in this assembly-line star vehicle. Read full review
50
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Pfeiffer tackles the part with obvious dedication, but she's thwarted from the get-go by the heavily proscribed nature of the role as written. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Yet despite its promising pedigree, Dangerous Minds has a slick, syrupy fraudulence -- it's like an Afterschool Special made for MTV. Read full review
40
Washington PostRita Kempley
The film fleetingly touches on the underfunding of schools and other administrative problems as well as the more compelling personal issues of teen pregnancy and violence. But the characters are so poorly drawn and underdeveloped that they seem to be little more than personifications of these societal ills. Read full review
40
EmpireCaroline Westbrook
Pfeiffer's performance supersedes any of the material, but the rest of the film is a seething mass of clich's despite the "true story" origins. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
False and condescending films in this genre are nothing new, but Dangerous Minds steamrollers its way over some real talent. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie pretends to show poor black kids being bribed into literacy by Dylan and candy bars, but actually it is the crossover white audience that is being bribed with mind-candy in the form of safe words by the two Dylans. Read full review
38
USA TodayMike Clark
Michelle Pfeiffer has made a lot of memorable movies, including many that undeservedly failed to connect with the public. Never, until Dangerous Minds, has she had to flail her way through a movie beyond all redemption, including even the prehistoric "Grease 2". [11 Aug 1995, Pg.04.D]
30
Austin ChronicleJoey O'Bryan
As far as Pfeiffer's performance goes, she's got charm and pep to spare, but next to zero substance when it comes to exploring her character's particular hypocrisies and pretensions. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Movie stars have tamed sassy kids in movies from "The Blackboard Jungle" to "Stand and Deliver," but it's hard to remember an example more patronizing or sentimentalized than this one. Read full review
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