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 Rated: R
Starring: Ron Livingston, Melissa George, Michael Sheen, Yul Vazquez, Rebecca De Mornay
Directed by: Steven Sawalich
Music Within, based on the touching true story of
Richard Pimentel, is both interesting and sometimes amusing. The plot deals with a subject that most of
today"s generation knows about, but takes for granted—the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA).
Director Steven
Sawalich handles the subject matter with a strong hand, depicting the life of
one of the Act"s most renowned activists.
In addition to good entertainment, it"s a must-see for history and
political science majors.
Richard Pimentel (Livingston)
has had a rough life. His mother (De Mornay) is psychotic, having had seven
miscarriages—one of them she believes was Richard. Richard has a rich high school life, winning
all of the public speaking events he has ever entered, which leads to an
interview at a college with Dr. Padrow (Elizondo)—the person who can make his
life dream come true.
However, Dr.
Padrow feels Richard is not ready for college, so he joins the Army instead. During a tour in Vietnam, Richard looses his
hearing in a bomb raid. Upon his return from the Army, Richard decides to
help other handicapped people, so he sets out on that quest. Along the way he makes friends with some
interesting people with various disabilities.
Ron
Livingston does a great job of bringing Pimentel to life on the screen. Playing a deaf person so the audience will
believe the pain and annoying
circumstances are real can be very tough, but Livingston
does a great job. The stand out
performance, however, comes from Michael Sheen as Art Honneyman, a college
student with cerebral palsy. His
touching and believable performance brings credence to the task that Pimentel
must complete.
“The ADA prohibits
discrimination in all employment practices, including job application
procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, training, and other
terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. It applies to recruitment,
advertising, tenure, layoff, leave, fringe benefits, and all other
employment-related activities. The first part of the definition makes clear
that the ADA applies to persons who have impairments and that these must
substantially limit major life activities such as seeing, hearing, speaking,
walking, breathing, performing manual tasks, learning, caring for oneself, and
working.
"An individual with epilepsy, paralysis, HIV infection, AIDS, a
substantial hearing or visual impairment, mental retardation, or a specific
learning disability is covered, but an individual with a minor, no chronic
condition of short duration, such as a sprain, broken limb, or the flu,
generally would not be covered.” This is only a partial description of the act,
and you should go to http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada
for more information if it concerns you.
FINAL ANALYSIS: An enjoyable, touching true story
with fine acting and a valuable lesson in life struggle.
Michael Sheen played Tony Blair in The Queen. Here he is playing an American with cerebral palsy. It's a testament to both talent, skill and the uniqueness of the craft of acting that most people would watch this film and never recognize him. |
