First Hit: I fell in love with this film because of the music and the power of its ability to connect the dots.
What would you do and how would you feel if your 17 year old son stormed out of your house and life because of an argument and then you receive a call 20 years later that he is in the hospital suffering from a large benign tumor?
This is that story and the story of how the father, Henry Sawyer (played by J.K. Simmons) and his son, Gabriel (played by Lou Taylor Pucci) begin to repair their relationship even though the son has no long term memory.
The film begins with the young family enjoying music together with the father quizzing his son on the song titles, who composed them, and what that song means to the father. The father is innocent enough in his zeal to connect with this son in this way. But what isn’t happening, as the son enters his teenage years during the sixties, is that the son is creating memories of his own to the music of his time.
After the son has the operation to take out a significant part of his brain, the father tries to help his son regain some memory through music therapy as practiced by Dianne Daley (played by Julia Ormond). Daley discovers that with certain songs of the sixties; exact memories are brought forth for Gabriel and he’s totally lucid when the song is playing.
The memories which are brought forth are sometimes painful and other times joyous and fun. During the lucid moments Gabriel talks about the pain of not being understood by his father. In one painful memory is the story as to why he left home some 20 years earlier.
In a beautiful telling moment Henry’s wife Helen (played by Cara Seymour) tells Henry that his son’s memories are correct and exactly how she saw them and that as long as he refuses to see this truth, she will not sleep in the same bed with him. This hits Henry straight in the heart and he sets out to learn his son’s music and learn about his son through the music.
Simmons is dead on perfect for this role. He carries the belief that Nixon team was right, yet humbles himself beautifully when he learns that he was wrong. He carries the joy of connecting with son so fully that one cannot simply let a tear or two fall from one’s eye. Seymour is fabulous as the fifty’s wife who decides to step out of that role and become a more prominent figure in the family. Pucci, is amazing as the almost brain dead person who comes to life when the music is played. Ormond is very good as the music therapist who helps guide both Gabriel and his father back together again. The music – was great to hear and fortunately for me it was my music as well. Gwyn Lurie and Gary Marks wrote a stunning script. Jim Kohlberg created a wonderfully paced magical film with a little help from some wonderful musicians which gave him music.
Overall: This was a surprisingly wonderful film which reminds people how much we associate our life to the songs we heard and remember.