Review: Music of the Heart
Review by: Joy Wyse, the SILVER Screen Critic
Starring: Meryl Streep, Angela Bassett, Cloris Leachman, Aidan Quinn,
Gloria Estefan, Jean-Luke Figueroa
Director: Wes Craven
The fact that this movie is rated PG will probably work against it. Too many people will think that it would be drab and boring. It's not. Actually, there is violence (a killing), racial bigotry, and sex among other things. There isn't anyone who won't identify with someone in this film. If you've ever struggled with practice to learn to play any instrument, or if you've had to listen to someone else practice, you will sympathize with that actor.
Basically, this is true story of a woman, Roberta Guaspari (Streep) who teaches violin in a Harlem school. Sure, you know where the storyline is going. If she didn't succeed, they wouldn't have made the film, now would they? But this is the story of the road she takes to achieve her goal. She teaches her pupils, their parents, and the staff much more than how to play the violin. She also helps her two sons overcome the problems that accompany her divorce from their father. They manage to grow into upstanding young men despite the living conditions that are thrust upon them.
I wish that movies such as this were compulsory for children to see. We ‘re all aware of the multiple problems facing today's youth. Some of it is addressed here, such as the racial tension that exists between Ramon, a Hispanic boy and his classmate, an African-American. Their classroom argument ends with Ramon telling the other boy to drop dead. That evening, when the boy is killed by a drive-by shooting, Ramon feels responsible for his death. Roberta reassures Ramon that if he had such powers, he would be the world's greatest violinist! More important, if we are not exposed to good, classical music when we are young; we miss out on one of the most pleasurable things in life. No, liking the classics does not make you a nerd….it makes you a more well rounded person. This is truly a `feel-good' movie. Give yourself a treat and see it. It's an A, all the way. I could see it over and over again.
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