Stand and Deliver
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| Stand and Deliver | |
|---|---|
 Stand and Deliver movie poster |
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| Directed by | Ramon Menendez |
| Produced by | Chad Musca |
| Written by | Ramon Menendez Tom Musca |
| Starring | Edward James Olmos Lou Diamond Phillips Rosanna DeSoto Andy Garcia |
| Music by | Craig Safan |
| Cinematography | Tom Richmond |
| Editing by | Nancy Richardson |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | March 11, 1988 |
| Running time | 102 min. |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Stand and Deliver is a 1988 film dramatizing the work of Jaime Escalante, a dedicated high school mathematics teacher.
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[edit] Taglines
- In 1982, a new troublemaker hit Garfield High. He was tough, wild, and ready to fight. He had to be...he was the new math teacher.
- Together, one teacher, and one class, proved to America they could stand and deliver.
- To make a difference at a tough school, someone tougher had to make a stand. Someone did.
- A true story about a modern miracle.
[edit] Synopsis
Based on a true story, this low budget movie opens with the background of Eastern LA. In an environment that values a quick fix over education and learning, Jaime A. Escalante is a new teacher at James A. Garfield High School in Los Angeles County, California determined to change the system and challenge the students to a higher level of excellence. Leaving a steady job for a lowly position as a math teacher in a school where rebellion runs high and teachers are more focused on discipline than academics, Escalante is at first not well liked by students, receiving numerous taunts and threats. As the year progresses, he is able to win over the attention of the students by implementing innovative teaching techniques, using props and humor to illustrate abstract concepts of math and convey the necessity of math in everyday lives. We all use math every day, a value that Escalante successfully instills. He is able to transform even the most troublesome teens to dedicated students, ready to learn. While Escalante teachs math 1A, basic arithmetic, he soon realizes that his students are capable of more than the expectations set forth by the school board.
Despite concerns and skepticism of other teachers, who feel that "you can't teach logarithms to illiterates", Escalante nonetheless develops a program in which his students can rise to take AP Calculus by their senior year. This intense math program requires that students take summer classes, including Saturdays, from 7 to 12, taxing for even the most devoted students. While other students spent their summers "barefoot and pregnant", these math enthusiasts were learning complex theorems and formulas. The vast contrast between home life and school life, however, begins to show as these teens struggle to find the balance between what other adults expect of them and the goals and ambitions they hold for themselves. With Escalante to help them, they soon find the courage to separate from society's expectations for failure and rise to the standard to which Escalante holds them to, a standard of success.
Taking the AP Calculus exam in the spring of their senior year, these students are relieved and overjoyed to be finished with a strenuous year. After receiving their scores, they are overwhelmed with emotion to find that they have all passed, a feat done by few in the state. Later that summer, a shocking accusation is made. The Educational Testing Service calls into question the validity of their scores when it is discovered that similarities between errors is too high for pure chance. Outraged by the implications of cheating, Escalante feels that the racial and economic status of the students has caused the ETS to doubt their intelligence. In order to prove their mathematical abilities and worth to the school, to the ETS, and to the nation, the students agree to retake the test at the end of the summer, months after their last class. With only a day to prepare, there is high stress to show that they have what it takes to make something of themselves. After the retake, these students truly stand and deliver when they all pass the exam again, showing they deserve all they have achieved.
[edit] Character biographies
- Jaime "Kimo" Escalante: The math teacher who prepares his students for the AP Calculus test. (played by Edward James Olmos) He brought his students from doing "bonehead" math, to algebra in the first school year. Then he decided to teach them calculus. This required him to teach the students trigonometry and math analysis over the summer. Then he spent Saturdays, breaks, and mornings teaching them calculus so they could be successful.
- Angel Guzman: A troublesome Chicano who must help his grandmother because he does not live with his parents. He struggles with math and juggles studying and hanging out with his gang-banging friends. (played by Lou Diamond Phillips)
- Francisco "Pancho" Garcia: A stronger character who experiences much difficulty with math because of his limited study skills.
- Ana Delgado: A shy, quiet girl who excels at math. She aspires to go to college and become a doctor, but is discouraged by her father, who wants her to support his restaurant. She is one of the few that inspires Mr. Escalante to teach the Calculus class (Vanessa Marquez, the actress who portrays Ana, later turned up on ER as a student nurse)
- Claudia Camejo: The resident beauty. Everyone (including Pancho) wants to be with her, and her love life, much to her dismay, is constantly joked about by Mr. Escalante. She takes the calculus classes to prove that she is more than just another pretty face and that she can rely on her own skills, unlike her mother.
- Guadalupe "Lupe" Escobar: A student who must take care of her mother's children while also juggling with school work. She refuses to be Pancho's girlfriend, as he expects her to be his "girlfriend on command".
- Rafaela Frentes: A Transfer student (from another class) brought later on into the movie.
- Nethead-A student who wants to learn but does not want his peers to know that he wants to learn.
[edit] Cultural References
- Edward James Olmos starred as Escalante, a role for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Lou Diamond Phillips, Vanessa Marquez, Karla Montana, Rosanna DeSoto, and Carmen Argenziano co-starred.
- The movie ranked #86 in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers.[citation needed]
- Edward James Olmos went through a hair thinning process and gained an estimated 20 pounds for the role of Jaime Escalante.[citation needed]
- The film was originally to be titled Walking on Water. It was renamed Stand and Deliver after a song by Mr. Mister from their album Go On....
- Kimo serves as an inspiration for the main character in the novel "Kimo: An Identity Revealed".
- The movie was spoofed during the South Park episode Eek! A Penis!. In the episode, Cartman is sent to teach at an inner city school. He teaches the class the various methods of cheating, and in difficult situations, constantly repeats the phrase, "How do I reach these kids!" Cartman's hair style also strongly resembles Mr. Escalante's (combover) and he puts on a stereotypical hispanic accent in the episode.
[edit] External links
- Stand and Deliver at the Internet Movie Database
- Stand and Deliver Revisited by Jerry Jesness, explains more of the true story behind the film.
