Music of the Heart (77%)

Director: Wes Craven     Cast: Meryl Streep, Angela Bassett     Genre: Drama
Runtime: 123 minutes     Release Date: November 29. 1999     Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Wes Craven has been called the 'Master of Horror" and is considered one of the greatest living horror directors around. Having watched almost all his films I would greatly contest those statements. While he has made a few excellent films, such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream, he has also made some terrible films a la Swamp Thing and Deadly Friend. Most of the rest of his films fall into the average/slightly better than average category and that to me does not say 'great filmmaker' let alone 'master'.

Coming out in 1999, right after the success of Scream, Music of the Heart is one of the most unlikeliest films from Wes Craven. It's a drama, about music and teaching and the human spirit and the need for music, or art of any kind, to play a part in our lives. It's an uplifting and motivational story and it comes from the man who brought you Freddy Kruger.

Meryl Streep plays Roberta Guaspari, a recently divorced woman with two kids, who takes on a job in East Harlem teaching kids to play the violin. She succeeds in her first few years and ends up becoming quite famous in the area. After a decade of teaching, the school board cuts their funding and Roberta's classes are the first to go. With the help of former students, parents, teachers and friends Roberta puts up a fight to save her class from coming to an end.

I wasn't expecting much from the man who brought to the silver screen such films as The Hills Have Eyes and Shocker. In the almost 30 years of working as a director, Craven hasn't shown much by way of being adept at drama. A lot of his films are stilted, wooden and just not that well put together. So Music of the Heart didn't really hold any high hopes from me but having just watched it I can say that I was pleasantly surprised. 

The Good:

The thing that anchors this film, that makes it so strong, that elevates it above the typical inspiring teacher beating the odds story that has been played out so many times in so few ways, is the acting, especially from Streep. As Roberta, Streep shows once again why she is the best actress of her generation (or ever?). She is amazing here bringing sadness and happiness and strength to her character in ways that few actors can.

She is literally captivating here and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She is by far the best thing about this movie. After it ended I watched a few clips of the real Roberta and it made Streep's performance even better. Other than looking like Meryl Streep, she is spot on as Roberta; her mannerisms, the way she talks, the way she moves, it is all pitch perfect.

The rest of the cast is rather effective as well. Angela Bassett is wonderful as the principal of the school and the children (there are tons and tons throughout the film) give professional and realistic performances as well. Aidan Quinn and Jay O. Sanders give touching performances as the nice guys that come into Roberta's life. 

Another great thing about this film is the music and the musicians who pop up playing themselves. It would of been easy to set the film to classical music played through violin strings and to some extent it is. But it is also juxtaposed with the hip hop beats that echo through the streets of East Harlem and a lighter and softer score that never intrudes on the rest of the film. And cameos by Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman don't hurt the film either.

The script too is near perfect for the kind of film Music of the Heart is. True to life characters, realistic dialogue and something like 12 years played out perfectly over 123 minutes. This is a story that has been told before a 1000 times but here it feels real, it sounds real and it avoids many (not quite all) of the hollywood cliches that tend to dominate these type of films.

The Bad:

I said above that the acting was uniformly excellent but there was one performance that just didn't feel as good as the rest. A performance that was jarringly out of place compared to everybody else. That performance was by Gloria Estefan. She's a singer, not an actress, and it's easy to tell as she gives the weakest (not outright bad, just weakest) performance of the entire film.

I also said the script is near perfect but even still the outcome is pretty much a given when it finally comes around and because of that there really isn't much by way of tension or expectation shattering going on. It doesn't really hurt the film (as Streep keeps you riveted) but it doesn't help it either. And taking place over twelve years, the kids grow up, while the adults just change their hairstyle (if even that) but otherwise look exactly the same.  That is probably the most notable problem in the whole film.

One thing Craven and his cinematographer seemed to stay away from is to give the film a glossy and shiny look. It's muted and somewhat cold and nothing particularly stands out in the visual department. Even Carnegie Hall doesn't look as majestic and magical as it should. The film is never to dark to see but it also never makes the eye marvel at what it is seeing. This too puts a slight damper on the film but not enough to ruin the feel and emotions that th story and actors ultimately deliver.

The Ugly:

Nope. Nothing really ugly about this film.

The Verdict:

Music of the Heart is a film that I enjoyed a hell of a lot more than I expected. It is surprisingly well directed by 'horror legend' Wes Craven, who shows a skill and adeptness to drama that is missing from most of other work. It's a revelation and one can only hope he will do more films that aren't labeled as horror. While it does have a problem or two, Music of the Heart is a film that is endlessly watchable based on it's great script and great performances. Streep is heartbreaking at times and captivating from start to finish and she becomes the rock, the anchor and the boat of the film. Without a doubt she is the reason the movie works as well as it does. The film is ultimately uplifting, fun and enjoyable and comes with my seal of approval for virtually anyone to enjoy.

Recommendation: Dead Poets Society

           Re-playability: 8 out of 10     Directing: 8 out of 10     Originality: 7 out of 10                 

Costumes and Make-up: 6 out of 10     Acting: 9 out of 10     Editing: 7 out of 10

Cinematography: 7 out of 10     Music: 8 out of 10     Script: 9 out of 10

         Production Design (Sets/Locations/Special Effects): 8 out of 10                  

Total Score = 77%