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Music Within (2007)

Music Within Poster

Movie Info


Genre

Drama

Release Date

October 26, 2007 (Limited)

MPAA Rating

R

Studio

MGM

Official Site

click here

Critics Reviews :  Nothing's perfect, but it's worth seeing.    Reader's Reviews :  5 of 5 [Rate It]

Cast and Crew


Director

Steven Sawalich

Producer

Brett Donowho, Steven Sawalich

Screenwriter

Mark Andrew Olsen, Bret McKinney, Kelly Kennemer

Starring

Movie Story


Richard Pimentel (Ron Livingston) begins his life as a fighter, and his life's work becomes a process of fighting for the rights of others.

Rising up from a childhood in a dysfunctional family, armed with a talent for public speaking and a winning personality, the young man makes his way to a Northwestern college, confident that he will ace his try-out for his idol Dr. Ben Padrow (Hector Elizondo), the coach of the winningest team in the history of the College Bowl.

But Dr. Padrow shatters his dream when he rejects him. Richard's immediate reaction is to enlist in the army for a tour of duty in Vietnam. During combat, the young recruit loses his hearing to a bomb blast, and has to deal with this newfound disability on his return to civilian life in Oregon.

Richard discovers that his disability and the struggle to transcend it is a defining moment in his fight for what he believes in. When he tries to help his friends, vets like himself and others with disabilities, to get work in an environment that treats them with pity at best and disdain as a matter of course, he realizes that he can make a difference. The friends who make up his close-knit clique are: Art Honneyman (Michael Sheen), a student wheel chair user with cerebral palsy who uses his rapier wit to deflect the prejudice that greets his disturbing appearance; Mike Stoltz (Yul Vázquez), a fellow veteran with a lot of rage and nowhere to put it; and then there is Christine (Melissa George), the passionate libertine who strokes Richard's ego and initiates him into the world of free love.

Together, the friends experience the currents of those turbulent times, and the wild, joyful energy of winning through confrontation and humor. Without his hearing Richard is all the more prepared to listen to the message deep within himself, and to carry that message to the thousands of people whose lives are improved by the movement he helps to organize.

Reader's Reviews


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The critics saw a different movie than I did. The story of Richard Pimental is treated in an understated way, and the character of Michael Sheen and his friendship with Richard is truly excellent. The wit, genuineness of reactions keep it several cuts away the movie of the week type of treatment. The scene in the Pancake House is worth the movie alone.

posted by marianne on Jul 14, 2008
 
 

MOVIE REVIEWS BY CRITICS

“..never comes together as a fully actualized dramatic narrative..”
by Kevin Crust [LA Times]
“..doesn't rise above made-for-cable public service announcement..”
by Wesley Morris [Boston Globe]
“..A bad movie with a good heart..”
by Matt Zoller Seitz [NY Times]