The Music never stopped

When Gabriel (Lou Taylor Pucci) was a young boy, he had a very close relationship with his father Henry (J.K. Simmons). Their shared love of music forged a close bond between father and son that is only torn apart when, in the late 1960s, Gabriel suddenly finds himself raving about artists such as Bob Dylan, The Beatles and The Grateful Dead, rather than his father's music, and also turning his back on Henry's political ideals. After a heated argument between the two, the final break occurs. Gabriel leaves home and breaks off contact with his parents. Only twenty years later Henry and his wife Helen (Cara Seymour) receive a tragic sign of life from their son. Gabriel suffers from a brain tumour which, although benign, has permanently damaged the young man's memory. All attempts to train Gabriel's memory and to reawaken lost memories fail. It is only with the help of music therapist Dr. Dianne Daly (Julia Ormond) that a miracle seems to occur: with the songs Gabriel so loved and Henry so despised, access to his memories is once again possible. After initial hesitation, Henry puts all his energy and time into this therapy, and through it finds access not only to his lost son, but also to his son's music...

The Music Never Stopped is another film, after Time to Grow Up and At First Sight, based on the work of British neurologist and writer Dr. Oliver Sacks. The template for this touching drama was the case study The Last Hippie, which filmmaker Jim Kohlberg has turned into a coherent story that thankfully manages to avoid kitsch and pathos for long stretches. Sure, especially towards the end the audience is hit hard with the emotional club. But thanks to the good actors and the moving script, you are only too happy to let that happen.

The fact that J.K. Simmons (Juno, Spider-Man), who tends to play bigger and smaller supporting roles, finally gets to play a leading role again is one of the many positive aspects of the film. Especially the discrepancy between the proud father, who muses with his young son about his favorite songs and the disappointed head of the family, who acknowledges the development of his son with stuffy stubbornness, embodies Simmons just great. Watching this stubbornness dissolve more and more over the course of therapy and him slowly opening up to the music that once divided him and his son is correspondingly intense to the heart.

Lou Taylor Pucci (Thumbsucker, Carriers) also delivers a more than convincing performance. While the scruffy beard he's forced to wear in some scenes seems a bit too artificial, it only marginally detracts from his strong acting. The way he virtually awakens from his completely introverted state when he hears music or sees Celia (Mia Maestro), the waitress in the clinic's cafeteria, comes across as very authentic and convincing in most moments. Especially since Pucci manages to change his gaze from a blank stare to glowing eyes in a split second.

But in addition to the convincing cast, which of course includes Julia Ormond as the therapist and Cara Seymour as Gabriel's mother, the music naturally plays a supporting role in the film. In an engaging way, it is made clear what power music can have, how important it is for our lives and how strongly one's own development, one's own character is reflected in music. And it is clear that the songs from the 60s, which had not only an individual, but also a unifying, political meaning for their generation, are best suited to convey this message, is more than clear in this wonderful little film.

The Music never stopped is a small, very quiet film that lives primarily from its strong actors, the moving story and the great music. Anyone who appreciates American art house cinema of the touching kind should definitely not miss this drama. Absolutely worth seeing

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp