Movie Review: The Music Never Stopped
It would be difficult to find a movie out there today that is as moving and heartfelt as The Music Never Stopped. The film is an adaptation of The Last Hippie written by Oliver Sacks as a chronicle of a damaged father/son relationship that is repaired when the father bonds with his runaway son through music.
Torn apart by the cultural upheaval of the late 1960s, father Henry Sawyer (J.K. Simmons) and mother Helen Sawyer (Cara Seymour) get a phone call from the hospital (the film is set in 1986) where their runaway son Gabriel (Lou Taylor Pucci) is being treated, although his medical condition is far from certain at this point. Upon meeting with the neurologist, they learn of Gabriel’s fate … stricken with a large, although operable brain tumor, successful surgery ultimately leaves Gabriel with severe amnesia along with the inability to create new memories.
After months, there is clearly no progress in his condition, yet Henry continues to visit Gabriel daily, in hopes of establishing a link to the close, family relationship they held together when he was a young boy. Flashbacks of “father” and a pre-teen Gabriel shine a light on the importance of music in Henry’s life, while illustrating the structure that was expected in a 1950s middle-American family.
Frustrated with his son’s near-vegetative state, Henry hires a music therapist played by Julia Ormond after reading about the progress that patients with brain trauma have made through this type of treatment. Henry recommends the music that they shared when Gabriel was young, but after repeated tries playing the father’s recommended “playlist,” the therapist is only able to reach Gabriel through 1960s Classic Rock. This musically little brings Gabriel back to life. From The Beatles, to Steppenwolf, Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead, step-by-step, Gabriel comes alive when the music is playing. While Gabriel’s parents are both eager to speak to and build anew with their son, Henry is disturbed that the only music that speaks to his son is the same music that killed their relationship.
Gabriel shows progress, learns to live and even to love (he falls for a tender young lunch-maid in the hospital cafeteria, played by Mia Maestro), yet he still does not have any short-term memory. All of his recollections are from his glorious teenage years, the late 1960s, when the Grateful Dead was the most sought-after concert ticket and only the music mattered. Henry, who by now is fighting his own battle with heart failure, swallows his pride and makes it a personal mission to call the local radio station for Grateful Dead tickets at the Fillmore every chance he gets. Watching the father and son’s relationship grow deeper is truly a profound experience that is both endearing as well as inspiring.
This film is magical (dare I say it), beautifully acted, and is simply way too good to pass up. Additionally, the music is amazing and will immediately lure you in regardless of your age. If it were in any way up to me, I would deem The Music Never Stopped a modern classic as it will proves as enjoyable at your twentieth viewing as it was your first.
