Dangerous Minds

In this blackboard-jungle drama, Michelle Pfeiffer plays Louanne Johnson, an erstwhile lady leatherneck turned teacher who squares off against a classroom of impudent, inner-city teens. The students' bullying tactics nearly drive Johnson out the first day, but she radically changes her lesson plan to include bribery and browbeating (despite objections from the prissy principal) in an effort to teach the class that learning is its own reward.