Michelle Pfeiffer plays Lou Anne Johnson, a new teacher with a class full of rowdy inner city kids. Apparently based on a real-life story, it features her effort to instill a learning spirit in people who have seemingly more important things to worry about than learning poetry. In the end, she succeeeds, of course, and how she does it is captured quite well. Starting off with karate and Bob Dylan lyrics, and restoring to bribes in the form of expensive dinners and trips to an amusement park, she uses every possible aid to assist her goal. Some of the emotional moments are quite touching. The soundtrack is quite interesting.