Music of the Heart

(source: tmdb.org)

Few directors are associated with single genre as closely as Wes Craven was with horror. Yet, like so many film makers, he felt the need to prove himself by directing something completely different. One such effort was his 1999 drama Music of the Heart.

The film is based on real events that took place in New York City years earlier. Protagonist is Roberta Guaspari (played by Meryl Streep), woman who spent many years faithfully following her husband, US Navy officer, from base to base. When he leaves her and two sons over another woman she finds herself in difficult financial situation. Chance encounter with old school friend Brian Turner (played by Aidan Quinn) offers opportunity to make ends meet. He remembers how Guaspari used to be a talented violinist so he suggests that she applies for position of music teacher in city’s school system. She accepts but the only free spot happens to be in Harlem, in primary school attended by children mostly from impoverished or troubled families, unlikely to be attracted to violins, which are Guaspari’s specialty. She nevertheless bravely takes the challenge and slowly but effectively teaches the pupils her skills. A decade later her program is so popular that children are accepted to her class by lottery. However, even that isn’t enough for school bureaucracy to terminate it over lack of proper funds. Guaspari doesn’t accept defeat and gets an idea to get necessary funds by staging spectacular fundraising concert featuring her pupils.

Story of Robert Guaspari was covered in 1995 documentary Small Wonders, which was nominated for Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. The same film also served as basis for script by Pamela Gray. The plot, which looks like it could have been covered with relatively small and unambitious television film is here given almost the epic treatment, probably due to calculations by Miramax, studio behind it, that Music of the Heart with its heart-warming story featuring adorable children and based around performance of Meryl Streep might have good chances during awards seasons. Such calculations weren’t unsound, because Streep indeed got an Oscar nomination. Craven as director handled material competently, not adding anything of his personal touch. In order to stick to the facts as much as possible, large portions of the film are dedicated to the financial and romantic issues facing the protagonist, which, in turn gives this film an excessive length of almost two hours. Streep, on the other hand, gives another dependable performance but less impressive than many child actors playing Guaspari’s pupils. Craven, for his part, didn’t allow that predictable happy ending sink into too much corniness or sentimentality. As a result, Music of the Heart is entertaining film that could be recommended even to the audiences that aren’t big fans of Wes Craven or classical music.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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Music of the Heart "plays Carnegie Hall" for two hours, both figuratively and practically. Like the youngsters it portrays, the film begins in the darkest corners of bad movies and progresses to a show-stopping performance at the famed music venue.

Roberta Guaspari (Meryl Streep) has two children, a husband who abandoned her, and 50 violins she purchased from a little store on the Mediterranean. Her life needs a boost, which she receives when she meets a man who introduces her to a position as a music teacher at an East Harlem primary school. Unfortunately, her employment is soon jeopardized as the guys in her life continue to pass through revolving doors. This is the production's pattern-like storyline. When the guys in her life ultimately disappear, the film picks a zero-sum solution to these difficulties and finds her music career at an all-time high.

Music of the Heart's first hour is excruciating. Roberta's character is undeveloped, and as a result, she appears flat. The film's "bad guy," a narrow-minded music instructor (Josh Pais) who rejects Roberta on principle (the movie never defines which direction) and comes and goes from the storyline according to when it may be dramatic to have a villain around, is also lacking in depth.

The film's following 15 minutes are poor. One child's return to Roberta's class (after the beautiful old Hollywood moment in which he confesses he can't be around longer because "My mom said...") and brilliant performance are highlighted. You could anticipate the credits to roll at this moment if you don't know the running time. They don't, though. Instead, the picture spends the next 45 minutes wrapping up its transformation from poor to decent to excellent.

Wes Craven, famed for his horror films, employs several tried-and-true emotional techniques to make the audience cry. The famous "But...last night..." is used in one romantic breakup scene, and Roberta's two children have textbook confrontations with their single mother over their father's absence.

Harlem is a significant character in the film. Roberta's mother is initially apprehensive about her daughter moving to that section of town, and the movie does little to dispel this notion. The sirens dominate the noise tracks during these sequences, and one of Roberta's students is gunned down and murdered off-screen.

Subtlety is one thing the picture lacks. After the incident mentioned above, a small child was playing "We Shall Overcome" on his violin, a sweet and subtle metaphor. Unfortunately, the entire orchestra starts playing it repeatedly and shortly after is an overused reference that demonstrates how little credit he pays the listeners.

Music of the Heart is a beautiful film, despite its shortcomings. However, that isn't a justification for the film's awful start. Perhaps it's acceptable for Music of the Heart to start shaky since, like Santa's favourite dish, this film has a fantastic ending.

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