Le virtuose

But that's not what really matters in a feel good movie, now does it? If you think it does maybe the actors can convince you otherwise. There's a lot of great acting talent at hand, that should leave you satisfied and occupied during the running time of the movie. Because you may not care too much about what is going on, when you know the outcome all along, the road is what is important.

It's more than finely made and as mentioned with the acting talent at hand you couldn't go wrong even if you tried to. The music is more than integral and will leave you speechless at times, if you're open to it of course. The hardships of following up your dream or at least your goal are always there and may feel like a drag if you've been watching too many movies, but that's not this movies fault

This movie, released in 2015, had a brief run recently at Princeton's nonprofit movie theater. It's the story of the fictional "National Boychoir School" and features the singing of students from the local, real-life American Boychoir School. ABS has fallen on hard financial times, and if it needed an infomercial to stimulate a really big donation, this is it. The movie stars Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Debra Winger, and Eddie Izzard in the adult roles, but director François Girard and writer Ben Ripley demand little of their talents. The story dwells mostly on the boys, and one particular boy (Garrett Wareing)—a misfit who arrives at the school unable even to read music, yet such a vocal prodigy that . . . yes, you can guess the rest. When the credits rolled and it turned out the movie had some affiliation with the Hallmark Hall of Fame, that was one of the least surprising moments in a string of non-surprises. Leaving aside its dramatic shortcomings, the creators' generosity with the music lifts the whole production. Actual ABS students are used in the production, according to a local news story, and director Girard said of the school, "It was extraordinary to see them at work. What they accomplish goes way beyond music." A good movie for kids and a pleasant, if unchallenging interlude for grownups, too.

Anyone attending a graduation ceremony at the American Boychoir School, as I did a few hours before seeing this film in Princeton, would be impressed with its tremendous and infectious school spirit. It is a joyous group of young people who uphold one another and love being together. Their enthusiasm has been buoyed up, and deservedly so, by the choir's glowing work in this film. As others have already noted, the singing is glorious, and one hopes is an audience's most lasting takeaway.

One's heart goes out to Stet, at first sight perhaps not the kind of boy one would expect to be smitten to the core within a moment of hearing such music. But he was! Given a chance to join, he is afraid to try at first, because failure and rejection would hurt so much. Time and again, it was the exquisite beauty of what he heard around him that drove him on, even when it seemed out of reach.

Aside from that-- I very much wanted to love this movie more than I'm ultimately able to do. Especially given its every suggestion that it is a portrayal of life in the American Boychoir School (or any choral foundation for that matter), we must bear in mind, IT IS FICTION! For according to the movie, this is a grim life in a hostile place, in which a boy might find no friends, no teamwork, and even a faculty member or two implacably opposed to his very presence. We see only merciless competition and rivalry, sometimes descending to unscrupulous malice for which the guilty peer gets only a slap on the wrist. This is not the stuff of which a great ensemble, as the American Boychoir clearly is, can be made. Alas, in this respect I fear that the scriptwriter and director have done a disservice to the art and institution that they meant to promote.

This is a serious matter at a time when plenty of choir school graduates go on to the most prestigious high schools in the country, and plenty of parents dream of exactly this outcome from the moment their child is born. To a large extent, it is the immersion in great music that does this. Yet the dots don't get connected: there is a shortage of applicants to choir schools, among other excellent boarding schools for children of this age, both here and abroad. Interested families understandably want to be assured that they will find a supportive, nurturing atmosphere in which every pupil is almost guaranteed to flourish happily. This is what such schools provide, as their students and alumni enthusiastically report. Reading music is patiently taught, not a prerequisite for admission. But you'd never guess it from the film.

If others feel that this single reservation I have expressed is too harsh, nothing would please me more. Boy goes to choir school and becomes a success. "Predictable", people say, as if this were a criticism. But oh how right they are.

Watched the movie on the 2nd day of TIFF 2014.

Before the movie, the director and several actors showed up and talked about the movie.

Dustin Huffman said,"it's a special movie, we hear that a lot. But you know films can be special and not work. And it can be special and work.... Hope you enjoy."

I did enjoy the movie. It flows very naturally and smoothly. I would not say this is a great movie, but it is still a good one.

Everyone tells Stet," you have the voice. you have the talent. Don't waste it".

I guess this is the point. Do not waster your talent. NEVER.

Even if it only stays for a short period, you gotta use your gift!

You're at the starting point of a walk through many movies (particularly this one and a certain immensely popular franchise) and still more works of Young Adult fiction. It can't contain any spoilers unless you were born yesterday. In that case, it may spoil the whole genre.

This should give you the general, not to say generic, idea. A largely orphaned 11-year-old boy with one or more unsympathetic parent figures is sent to a boarding school for children with a special gift. The school is located far out in the country, in a shadowy stone edifice of medieval design. All of the pupils are gifted, but our hero/surrogate is more gifted than the rest. The squabbling faculty includes a martinet, a mentor to our hero, and a revered Master. The Master, whose eyes may or may not twinkle, will become our hero's super-mentor and ace in the hole.

The pupils learn the arcana of their art in the classroom and practice it on their own till they can accomplish amazing feats. Among them our hero finds at least one amiable buddy, at least one garden-variety tormentor, and exactly one Aryan-looking arch rival whose malice is a bit thick. He gives the arch rival a well-deserved thrashing, but they do not become best friends afterward as in Young Adult fiction of an earlier era. In fact, our hero couldn't keep out of trouble if he tried (he seldom does), but it's all right because he's the most special child on the premises.

Now we jump briefly to another genre. It's the day of the big show, and the star is suddenly out of it. Our heroine (read hero, in the case of Boychoir) must fill in. She'll be all right, they tell her, though they're sweating bullets inside. She's got it in her, she knows the routine by heart. All she has to do is follow the maestro's eyes or the bouncing ball or something. She's going out there a kid, but she's got to come back a star. Yes, she'd blow it if this were only the third reel, but it's almost the end of the movie. So.

Now back to the first genre and the denouement of our hero's story. Through superior talent and a bit of learning, he has risen to every challenge. Even if he doesn't get a letter of recommendation from the Master (you'll just have to watch and see about that), we know he has been recognized as the greatest prodigy that ever passed through Hogw--, er, Boychoir School.

And that, unfortunately, seems to be what matters above all. In Boychoir, the protagonist's worth apparently increases in his father's eyes, as in those of the Master and the Headmistress, in proportion to his achievement. I agree with another reviewer, Stream-it, who comments, "The messages here seemed to be, very loosely, only those who become 'the best' can expect to receive the love of family and acceptance within their institution of choice. Didn't work for me." (Review title: "Entirely predictable...almost.")

The six stars that I've given to this film are mainly for the choral music, which is good as far as it goes, the photography, which is tasteful, and Kevin McHale's performance as Wooly, which is transparently right. Being among the few who haven't seen him in anything else, I don't know whether he's always the same or not. The four missing stars are for the narrative magic that wasn't there.