Stand and Deliver (1988)

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

"Stand and Deliver" is not without flaws, but honestly these flaws don't matter so much given that this film is such good entertainment. In fact, film critics usually narrow in on the lapses in logic and flaws because they resent a film for being so boring. Such a criticism cannot be levelled at this picture, however. First and foremost, "Stand and Deliver" is unique in the sense that it is much more than a retelling of the inspirational teacher formula. Instead, this film is about the power of sheer determination. Edward James Olmos' Jaime Escalante impresses us when he claims that he can transform unmotivated and rebellious kids into math students without receiving additional resources and the proceeds to make good on this promise. He knows that his high school is in a crisis, but that does not seem to faze him in the least nor discourage him from doggedly pursuing his own vision. Then after Escalante works his magic, some of the students start to show their innate intellectual potential which few people ever thought was there. CastCast overview, first billed only: Edward James Olmos Edward James Olmos ... Jaime Escalante Estelle Harris Estelle Harris ... Secretary Mark Phelan Mark Phelan ... Cop Virginia Paris Virginia Paris ... Raquel Ortega Eliot Eliot ... Tito (as Mark Eliot) Adelaida Alvarez Adelaida Alvarez ... Sexy Girl Will Gotay Will Gotay ... Pancho Patrick Baca Patrick Baca ... Javier Ingrid Oliu Ingrid Oliu ... Lupe Carmen Argenziano Carmen Argenziano ... Molina Richard Martinez Richard Martinez ... Heavy Metal Boy Mark Everett Mark Everett ... Heavy Metal Boy Tyde Kierney Tyde Kierney ... Joe Goodell Rosanna DeSoto Rosanna DeSoto ... Fabiola Escalante (as Rosana De Soto) Bodie Olmos Bodie Olmos ... Fernando Escalante See full cast »

Stand and Deliver movieDirected by Ramón Menéndez Produced by Tom Musca Written by Ramón Menéndez, Tom Musca Film Genre: dramaCast Edward James Olmos as Jaime Escalante Lou Diamond Phillips as Angel Guzman Rosanna DeSoto as Fabiola Escalante Andy García as Ramirez Ingrid Oliu as Lupe Will Gotay as PanchoMusic by Craig Safan Cinematography Tom Richmond Edited by Nancy RichardsonRelease dates March 11, 1988 (United States) Running time: 102 minutes Country United States Language English Box office $13,994,920"Stand and Deliver" is a 1988 American Biographical-drama film and based on a true story about Jaime Escalante, a Bolivian Math teacher in Garfield High School (Los Angeles, California). The school is full of Hispanic students from immigrant working class families living with lots of social problems and poverty in Los Angeles. The students also are below their grade in terms of academic skills.At first he was expecting to teach Computer Science. When he arrives, he instead finds is that there is not computer department, and he's stuck teaching basic math to students. Most of the students especially boys smoke, drink and are part of vandal groups. When Mr. Escalante wanted to talk to one of the boys in private at the first days in High School, other boys come to the class to support him and threaten the teacher. Mr. Escalante instead seeks to change the school culture with lots of energy and enthusiasts to help the students excel in academics. He soon realizes the potential of his students and sets a goal of having the class taking AP Calculus. For encouraging 18 Hispanic students of his class, he said in the movie: "Did you know that neither the Greeks nor the Romans were capable of using the concept of zero? It was your ancestors, the Mayans, who first contemplated the zero. The absence of value. True story. You "burros" (donkeys) have math in your blood." What adds more drama to situation is the fact that each and every student in the class Mr. Escalante teaches has their own peer pressures to deal with. Some students have unsavory friends who would laugh at their taking a class seriously. And some of the students have to deal with parents who don't understand why their education should come before taking care of their own family. Jaime Escalante in the middle of the film said in the class that: "There will be no free rides, no excuses. You already have two strikes against you: your name and your complexion. Because of those two strikes, there are some people in this world who will assume that you know less than you do. "Math" is the great equalizer... When you go for a job, the person giving you that job will not want to hear your problems; ergo, neither do me. You're going to work harder here than you've ever worked anywhere else. And the only thing I ask from you is "ganas"! And he continued to say to his students that: "If you don't have the ganas, I will give it to you, because I'm an expert." Mr. Escalante instructs his class under the philosophy of "ganas", roughly translating into "desire" or "motivation". As the movie progresses Mr. Escalante announces to the board that he wants to teach Calculus to his best students. The students begin taking summer classes in advanced mathematics with Mr. Escalante who has to withstand the Pessimism of other faculty, who feel the students are not capable enough. At the same time Mr. Escalante help some of his students to face their social problems and gets involve of his students' problems. Even he talks to the manager of his best student in the class to let her have more time for AP calculus exam. The students pass the AP Calculus exam but the Educational Testing Service questions the success of the students and emphasizes that they cheated. One of the reasons was most of the students have the same mistake in AP Calculus. All the people at Garfield High school believe that the students cheated and one of the colleagues tells Mr. Escalante that because they want to please him for his energy and enthusiastic teaching them. But Mr. Escalante doesn't disappoint and protests to the investigators from the Educational Testing Service questions. He defends his students and argues angrily that all the allegations are based on racial and economic perceptions. So he said to the investigators that "if the high school was in Beverly Hills no one would send you here to investigate!" He offers to have the students retake the test months later and the students succeed in passing the test again despite only having a day to prepare, dispelling the concerns of cheating. Twelve students retook the exam, and most of them got 4s and 5s on the 5-point exam. In 1987, 27 percent of all Mexican Americans who scored 3 or higher on the calculus AP exam were students at Garfield High. The movie shows students moving from struggling with fractions to mastering calculus in one year, although in reality it took Escalante several years to build a progression of classes that prepared Garfield students for calculus. "Edward James Olmos" who played Mr. Escalante role in the film, received a nomination for Best Actor at the 61st Academy Awards. In December 2011, Stand and Deliver movie was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. The Registry said the film was "one of the most popular of a new wave of narrative feature films produced in the 1980s by Latino filmmakers" and that it "celebrates in a direct, approachable, and impactive way, values of self-betterment through hard work and power through knowledge."

Jaime Escalante (Edward James Olmos) quits his computer job to become a teacher. He is brought in to teach at James A. Garfield High School in east L.A. except they don't have any computers. It's a lower class Hispanic neighborhood and the school is failing the kids. He teaches math to unresponsive kids and his car is broken into on the first day. He uses unconventional methods to push his kids to pass the AP Calculus exam. Then they are accused of cheating.This is one of those inspirational teacher movie. EJO is terrific. The kids are mostly unknown with a young Lou Diamond Phillips in the mix. The formula is simple and the movie follows it faithfully. There are probably some dispute about the facts of the real story but that is a minor consideration. It's a great inspirational movie.

This great movie is a portrayal of the true story of Jaime Escalante, a devoted man who left his high paying job to help Hispanic teenagers who live in the poor side of east LA find and reach their goals. Upon arriving he soon realizes that not only school doesn't provide any modern teaching facilities for their students, the teachers there don't believe in their pupils as well. They think that the students there are bunch of "losers" or "untouchables" who will have no future besides working in a fast- food. Escalante sets out to prove to the teachers that they are dead wrong and to prove both to his students and himself that they can , they only need to be shown how. "It's not that they're stupid, it's just they don't know anything." To demonstrate his abilities he starts to make up a personality for himself, not long after he wins over all the students, each one in a unique way . He truly knows how to connect with each one of them. His ability to transform even the most troublesome student _Pancho_ to a dedicated learner is actually nothing short of a phenomena. Throughout the first year Escalante learns that his students are far more capable than what he thought they might be so he sets out a new goal: calculus AP test.Despite all the disbelief and skepticism that his colleagues have he went ahead and designed an intense math program which required all those "loser" and "untouchable" students to even take summer classes. In the spring of their senior year, Escalante's students take the AP test and they all pass with flying colors, which caused The Educational Testing Service to question the validity of their results. Escalante believed that this is so because of the social and economic statues of his students so he made the Educational testing service committee agree to retake the test, in the end of the summer with only one day to prepare students retake the test and passed even better than the first time to prove their mathematical abilities to the school, ETS, the nation and more than anything else to themselves. And to show the power of belief. To show what a man can do if someone truly believed in him. His students, despite all odds truly "stand and deliver" what he always believed in them. For me this movie is the story of a man who is willing to take the extra mile. One man who is willing to go through all the harshness and struggle to try to improve people's life. Story of a math teacher who so selflessly loves his students." these people expand their lives with greater struggles, but also greater rewards. Usually their accomplishments, their positive contributions, never make it to the public eye; but occasionally, someone is so impressed that a movie is made."(Ross Anthony)Edward James Olmos plays the role of Mr. Escalante in this movie which earned him nomination for an academy award that year. He successfully played the role of though yet loving teacher who despite all odds believes in his pupils. But to understand his play one should dig deeper. We have to pay vary close attention to all his gestures to all his dialogues and the way he talks, the way he articulates Hispanic accents even the way he looks at different type of people.Olmos play the role of a though teacher who knows when to use humor and when to take control of the class through direct confrontation by belittling the bully. When confronting pancho he doesn't threat him, he simply uses humor and let his other classmates to laugh at him as the worst punishment in the class . He knows he audience and connects with them one by one, from hugging and STD jokes to threatening to cut fingers of the "wannabe gang members".It is obvious that Olmos worked really hard to take into this kind of personality portraying even the slightest personal traits. he truly delivers a perfect play. Mottos in this movie are not in the surroundings but in his personality traits. For example the way he tuck four fingers of his right hand into his pants and how proudly he walks afterwards. Or the way he pronounces "ganas" meaning desire to accomplish something great. Or the way he emphasizes in the importance of math in front of his student. They are all part of his make. Believe play act. In the scene that he comes to class like a butcher one might think this is part of his unethical method of teaching but throughout the story it will be learnt that this is just of his personality. All these element in the movie come together to make it an inspirational and powerful story throughout. The story wasn't one of unpredictable type , from the beginning of the second half it was obvious what is about to happen but we have to keep in mind that this was a real story more than a drama. So don't look for element of surprise , just sit back and be inspired. "Jaime A. Escalante: You're like a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn't there!"