Shine (1996)
Grade: 65
If 'Rain Man' became a concert pianist, he would be David Helfgott. "Shine" is the true-life story of David, taking him from repressed childhood to demented adulthood. "Shine" is always interesting and never drags, but sometimes misses the mark.
David is the only male son of tough-love father Armin Mueller-Stahl, a Jewish concentration camp survivor now living in Australia. Father succeeds in making David a child protege, but is reluctant to give up control over him. As David matures, he develops greater psychological problems, with the blame blatantly placed on his father. David's growing success as a pianist is wrecked by a nervous breakdown, and he ends up institutionalized. But he gradually recovers, and there is a happy if unlikely ending.
Three actors play David. Alex Rafalowicz is child protege David, timid and polite. Noah Taylor is adolescent David, awkward and self-effacing. Geoffrey Rush is middle-aged David, jabbering, joyous and oblivious. The Taylor and Rush versions of David appear to have nothing in common except their skill with a piano.
"Shine" is a good movie, but it has been over-rated. I have several explanations for this. The addition of John Gielgud and Lynn Redgrave in minor roles adds class to the cast, as does the extensive use of (and references to) classical music. Also, the notion of an 'idiot savant' is appealing, a man who can't tie his shoes or carry a conversation, but who has some redeeming, extraordinary talent. Give David a piano and he's the life of the party. Take it away, and it's back to the funny farm.
Rush won the Academy Award for Best Actor, while Mueller-Stahl was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Both give excellent performances, but I can't say the same for their characters. Demented David always charms and never alienates, while his father has psychological problems that rival his son's. It just seems too easy to put all the blame for David's dementia on his abusive father.
kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html
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