Low on drama, but funny, with interesting characters, good performances and is uplifting without being too sweet.
Music Within (2007)
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Synopsis: Based on a true story, MUSIC WITHIN depicts how one man helped change policies and attitudes toward people with disabilities. Richard Pimentel (Ron Livingston) grew up with an emotionally unstable mother (Rebecca De Mornay) and lost his father in a freak accident, so he turns to public... Based on a true story, MUSIC WITHIN depicts how one man helped change policies and attitudes toward people with disabilities. Richard Pimentel (Ron Livingston) grew up with an emotionally unstable mother (Rebecca De Mornay) and lost his father in a freak accident, so he turns to public speaking in school to find direction in life and seek the approval and praise he needs. After receiving insightful advice from a public speaking mentor (Hector Elizondo), Richard enlists in the army and serves in Vietnam. He returns with impaired hearing and finds it difficult to get a job. Through friendships with Art (Michael Sheen), who has cerebral palsy, and fellow Vietnam vets with various ailments, Richard finds his calling as an employment placement advocate for those with disabilities. Catching the attention of the state governor, his innovative work leads to a breakthrough opportunity: to write the training program for employers and government agencies to improve conditions, hire, and retain employees with disabilities. His efforts ultimately result in the creation of the congressionally approved Americans with Disabilities Act. MUSIC WITHIN impeccably fulfills its mission to inform as it entertains, as it seriously explores this sensitive subject but never loses its sense of humor when dealing with the issues. Livingston (OFFICE SPACE) is perfectly cast as Richard; his earnest Everyman style inspires, and his deadpan comic timing adds warmth to a story that showcases how cold people can be. Sheen (THE QUEEN) is a marvel as the brilliant and witty wheelchair-bound Art. Their chemistry is spellbinding and their characters' unique relationship is the heartbeat of this endearing film. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Ron Livingston, Melissa George, Michael Sheen, Yul Vazquez, Rebecca De Mornay
Screenwriter: Mark Andrew Olsen, Bret McKinney, Kelly Kennemer
Producer: Brett Donowho, Steven Sawalich
Composer: James T. Sale
DVD Info
Release:
Aug 4, 2008
DVD Features:
- Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English
- Dolby Surround - French, Spanish
- Subtitles - English, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
- Alternate Scenes - Deleted Scenes
- Audio Commentaries - Steven Sawalich - Director/Producer; Kelly Kennemer - Writer; Brett Donowho - Producer
- Behind the Scenes - "The Making of the Music"
- Featurettes - Richard Pimental Speech
- Trailers (3)
Reviews
It's just too bad that the pious treatment given the deserving Pimentel never translated into a more engaging film.
With period songs galore to tell you exactly what's going on inside protagonist Richard Pimentel (Ron Livingston), you hardly need plot or dialogue.
The real world needs more dogged folks willing to tilt at windmills. But movies often don't do their stories justice, and that has happened again here.
Pimentel's persistence and eventual triumph over prejudice and discrimination is a story worth telling, if only on a shoestring.
It gives me no pleasure to report that the [Richard] Pimentel biopic Music Within plays like a well-intentioned TV movie.
Salawich's film is entertaining and leaves you with warm feelings from learning about this man who turned adversity into good for so many others.
If you're looking for one-dimensional, uplifting pap, Music Within fits the bill. It's watchable. Pimentel is obviously a really interesting guy, and it's a shame his tale wasn't told with a bit more flair.
When the subject is not well-known, and the film about his life is unremarkable, the whole thing starts to feel like an exercise in futility.
Both Pimental and the audience would have been better served if his life were told as a PBS documentary.
This offbeat biopic is driven by Ron Livingston's engaging performance as Richard Pimentel, a gifted public speaker who lost his hearing in the Vietnam war and then spearheaded the disability rights movement in the U.S.
The low-budget Music Within may not entirely work on the outside, but at its core beats a very funny, very smart and very moving heart of gold.
This is a nice little well-meaning idea for a movie, but even with three writers on the payroll, it never really catches fire.
This is a heroic tale in many respects, but it's handled here with the heavy hand of television-quality hagiography.
It hits some of the right notes, but at the wrong time and the overall effect is a song out of tune.
Second-time director Steven Sawalich's "music" presumably still resides inside him because it doesn't resound in his Music Within message movie.
All inspiring stuff, but Music Within is strictly by the numbers, even down to the predictable mood-setting period soundtrack numbers
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