Metacritic reviews

Stand and Deliver is inspirational, but never sentimental. It resists all too many temptations. It cries out for schmaltz. But this is a drama as honest as its hero, a work that comes from the heart -- the heart of a computer programmer.

Stand and Deliver itself, with its message of the soaring rewards of learning, aims high and delivers perhaps a B+. But it's already a better, less cliched film than La Bamba, with considerably more on its mind, and its strengths may pave the way for more complex, more demanding stories of the Latino experience for all audiences.

Mr. Olmos seems to be living and breathing this role rather than merely playing it, and his enthusiasm really catches on.

The ensemble acting is excellent. Remember, kids, it all comes down to Self Respect.

Stand and Deliver does what it promises. It delivers. [30 Mar 1988, p.1D]

Carefully scripted and well acted, Stand and Deliver is sentimental and utterly predictable but better than many films of this kind.

It's a stand-up-and-cheer kind of movie -- hence the Rocky comparison -- with the unlikeliest of heroes. [30 Mar 1988, p.D1]

Like a series pilot, Stand and Deliver has a strong character, a promising situation and not a lot of story-it seems to be setting things up for future episodes.

Stand and Deliver honors its title; it's a good news movie in a bad news world. [15 Apr 1988]

There were moments in Stand and Deliver that moved me very deeply and other moments so artificial and contrived that I wanted to edit them out, right then and there. The result is a film that makes a brave, bold statement about an unexpected subject, but that lacks the full emotional power it really should have.