Music of the Heart

MUSIC OF THE HEART, in my opinion, is an outstanding biopic about one of the bravest teachers of all time. The performances were smashing, the soundtrack was great, and the casting was just right. Anyway, if you ask me, it was brave of Roberta (Meryl Streep) to take a stand to keep the music program in all Harlem schools. I would probably take a stand myself if I were in her shoes. In conclusion, if you are a die-hard fan of Meryl Streep, Gloria Estefan, or Angela Bassett, I heartily recommend this outstanding biopic about one of the bravest teachers of all time. You're in for a real treat and a good time, so don't miss this one.

Even though I had been wanting to see "Music of the Heart" for a while now, and I expected to like it, I didn't expect it to be one of my favorites of all time. Which it now is. As of August 2021 I have watched it three times on DVD. Plus the extra disc which is a 77 minute documentary of the real teacher and culminating with the actual Carnegie Hall performance.

Meryl Streep, in the lead role, is nothing short of fantastic. She studied violin virtually every day, for 2 to 4 hours a day, for 3 months because she insisted on doing all her on-screen playing. She was so good that duing warm-up for the Carnegie Hall scene, famous violinists Issac Stern and Itzhak Perlman stood/sat in amazement at how good she was. Watching the movie, I honestly became unaware that she was an "actress" in a movie, and that seldom happens with me.

The most enjoyable scenes were those showing young children make music. I am a musician, and the Carnegie Hall performance, kids sharing music stands with all those real-world virtuoso violinists, is one of the most moving scenes imaginable, when you consider what had transpired leading up to it.

This movie is based on the real story of a real music teacher in Harlem. It is a wonderful story of how one person through love and persistence can affect so many in such a positive way. This movie, unlike most, will stay with me for a long, long time.

"Music Of The Heart" is an awe-inspiring film that contains outstanding performances from every single actor and actress in the film. From Meryl Streep to Angela Bassett and Aidan Quinn to Gloria Estefan as well as the extras, the actors made "Music Of The Heart" a wonderful film.

Meryl Streep is exceptional in the role of the true life violin teacher who deserves most of the credit for this superbly performed film. The way that Along with Angela Bassett, Gloria Estefan and Aidan Quinn, "Music Of The Heart" is a success.

I particularly enjoyed the scene in which her former students came into the classroom to inspire her current students to doing their best in their concert. However, the best part of the whole film was at Carnegie Hall when the children performed in front of their parents and alongside world renownd violinists such as Itzhak Perlman.

Finally, Hollywood has recognized an excellent true story and brought it to the silver screen. I cannot begin to tell everyone what a movie this was to watch. I can't begin to tell everyone that the performances brought out every positive emotion.

Along the same lines as "Mr Holland's Opus," "Music Of The Heart" follows the life of violin teacher, Roberta Gaspiaurdi from the inception of the music program she created.

"Music Of The Heart" is a film that touched my heart and inspired me into really looking inside myself and want to do charity for others. I highly recommend this movie to everyone because it will move, touch, and inspire.

I must confess that I approached `Music of the Heart' with a great deal of fear and trepidation. I really had no desire to subject myself to what I envisioned to be a 124-minute barrage of inspirational life messages and feel-good sentimentality. What a pleasant surprise then to discover this to be a genuinely moving and heartwarming true-life tale of an extraordinary teacher, Roberta Gaspari, and her equally extraordinary students.

In plot, `Music of the Heart' doesn't deviate much from the standard formula common to such films. We have, first, the neophyte white middle class schoolteacher, plunged into the heart of a problem-ridden inner city Harlem school, filled with burnt-out teachers who have learned to expect little (and thereby garner little) from the youngsters placed in their charge and children themselves whose troubled home lives provide little in the way of a nurturing environment for academic achievement. We encounter the predictable first-day stumbles of this headstrong, idealistic newcomer as the students challenge her authority and the relevance of her violin class in no uncertain terms; we see how, through discipline and the sheer force of her own determination, she eventually connects them to the music they are learning to play, building their self-confidence and slowly winning the respect of their often skeptical, and, occasionally, downright hostile parents in the process. Then comes the great challenge, as the school board, after ten successful years in which the program has earned a sizable reputation and even been featured in magazine articles, pulls the plug on the funding. Thanks to the sheer determination of Gaspari, the parents whose children's lives have been forever altered, a magazine writer and the voluntary participation of a number of the world's premiere violinists (a large number of whom appear as themselves in the film), the group stages an amazing fundraising concert at Carnegie Hall, the proceeds from which save the program and help ensure its survival for the next several years.

One of the chief reasons that `Music of the Heart' does not dissolve (as it so easily might have) into a puddle of goopy tears lies in the matter-of-fact interpretation of the main character that both writer, Pamela Gray, and actress, Meryl Streep, bring to bear on the role. At no time is Roberta ever portrayed as a saintly figure. In fact, she is a woman filled with all sorts of insecurities and vulnerabilities, exacerbated by the devastating sense of bewilderment and loss caused by the unexpected termination of her marriage and her seeming need to be dependent on a man for comfort, support and a sense of purpose. She is often overbearing, pushy and pigheaded and not just in the classroom where it counts, but also in her personal life where it often alienates her from the ones she loves most. Yet, somehow out of this mass of self-doubts and personal missteps, she finds the inner strength and emotional wherewithal to work miracles. Streep throws herself so completely into the role that we cannot take our eyes off her for a single one of the film's 120 enthralling minutes (and I doubt that she is ever off screen for more than a few seconds in the entire film). It is a truly glowing performance.

Equally impressive, director Wes Craven is to be highly commended for drawing such an impressive array of credible, down-to-earth performances from a large cast of outstanding preteen actors. Thanks to them and an air of naturalism in the dialogue, the scenes between the youngsters and their teacher always ring true and believable.

I defy anyone - even the most tone deaf, musically disinterested member of the audience - not to be deeply touched by the final scenes of this film. Craven, from all his years doing those slasher films I suppose, really knows how to generate a sense of suspense as we follow the pre-show behind-the-scenes preparations of the nail-biting participants. The recreated concert itself, with a number of the real life participants brought back to play for the occasion, is utterly engrossing and leaves the audience both rheumy-eyed and covered with goose bumps. Well, maybe "Music of the Heart" is, after all, filled with the `inspirational life messages' and `feel-good sentimentality' I so dreaded at the outset of the film. That being the case, I guess that isn't such a bad thing after all!

Roberta Guaspari (Meryl Streep) and her two kids move back home with her mom Assunta (Cloris Leachman) after her husband run off with her friend. She never made it as a concert violinist and teach sparingly as she is pulled around the world by her navy husband. An old friend Brian Turner (Aidan Quinn) directs her to Principal Janet Williams (Angela Bassett) who reluctantly hires her as a substitute music teacher in the East Harlem inner city school. All the teachers hate her except Isabel Vasquez (Gloria Estefan).

It's a pretty traditional biopic by director Wes Craven who usually does horror. It's not a particularly original true story but it's an effective one. The most impressive thing in this is Meryl Streep. She holds the movie together. There are all the classic hurdles like the intransigent teachers, poverty, angry parents, violent neighborhood, and tough luck kids. Through it all, Streep works her butt off pulling the right heartstrings.