Box office Dangerous Minds was released in the United States on August 11, 1995. It grossed a total of $179.5 million worldwide.
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval score of 36% and an average rating of 4.9/10 based on 45 reviews from critics. The website's "Critics Consensus" for the film reads, "Rife with stereotypes that undermine its good intentions,
Dangerous Minds is too blind to see that the ones it hurts are the audience." Writer
Aisha Harris attributed the film's poor reception to film critics having grown tired of the "inspirational teacher" that had been prevalent throughout the 1990s by the time
Dangerous Minds was released.
Janet Maslin of
The New York Times called it a "false and condescending film" that "steamrollers its way over some real talent". Although praising
Michelle Pfeiffer's acting ability, Maslin said that the script limits her to a one-dimension role.
Kenneth Turan's review for the
Los Angeles Times said that Pfeiffer "is as believable as the film allows her to be", but the film trivializes the subject matter.
Roger Ebert wrote in his review for the
Chicago Sun-Times called the film "less than compelling" and said the true story had been watered down to appeal to white audiences, illustrated by the substitution of
Bob Dylan songs for
rap songs. Though
Terrence Rafferty of
The New Yorker said Pfeiffer's acting made the film "fairly entertaining", he criticized the film's screenplay and the sentimental ending, which he said gives Pfeiffer's character an unnecessary halo.
Peter Travers in
Rolling Stone described the young cast as "outstanding" and praised Pfeiffer's performance, but he said the film "often unspools like a hokey update of
Sidney Poitier's
To Sir, with Love". Kevin McManus of
The Washington Post also praised the acting, though he wrote that the film "merits only a C", in part because of the script's lack of subtlety and the saccharine lines given to the students. Edward Guthmann in the
San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "It's contrived, it's hokey, but in
Dangerous Minds, a Michelle Pfeiffer vehicle, it works surprisingly well... She's playing with a bag of clichés, but she's so plucky and likable, you overlook the hokum."
Time Out wrote: "Actually it's quite a respectable piece of work, with an impressive tough-love performance from Pfeiffer, but
Ronald Bass's hackneyed screenplay is all carrot and no stick." Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.
Accolades The
soundtrack and its lead single "Gangsta's Paradise" enjoyed major success and received nominations for the
Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Soundtrack Album. Coolio won the
Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for his vocals. At the
1996 MTV Movie Awards,
Dangerous Minds was nominated in four categories:
Best Movie,
Best Female Performance (Michelle Pfeiffer),
Most Desirable Female (Michelle Pfeiffer) and
Best Movie Song (Coolio). The music video for "Gangsta's Paradise", featuring Michelle Pfeiffer, won the
MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video and the
MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film. Michelle Pfeiffer won the
Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress – Drama. The film is recognized by
American Film Institute in these lists: • 2004:
AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: • "Gangsta's Paradise" – Nominated ==Soundtrack==