Music Within

Last updated
Music Within
Music within post.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySteven Sawalich
Written byBret McKinney
Mark Andrew Olsen
Kelly Kennemer
Produced byBrett Donowho
Bruce Wayne Gillies
Oli Laperal Jr.
Steven Sawalich
Starring
CinematographyIrek Hartowicz
Edited byTimothy Alverson
Music byJames T. Sale
Production
companies
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures
Articulus Entertainment
Quorum Entertainment
Distributed by MGM Distribution Co.
Release date
  • October 26, 2007 (2007-10-26)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$153,205 [1]

Music Within is a 2007 American biographical period drama film directed by Steven Sawalich and starring Ron Livingston, Melissa George, Michael Sheen, Rebecca De Mornay, and Marion Ross. It follows the life of Richard Pimentel (Livingston), a respected public speaker whose hearing disability attained in the Vietnam War drove him to become an activist for the Americans with Disabilities Act. [2] Sheen portrays Arthur Honeyman, while George portrays Pimentel's girlfriend.

Contents

Filmed on location in Portland, Oregon, in 2006, Music Within screened at the AFI Dallas International Film Festival in February 2007, where it won the award for Best Narrative Feature Film. The film was acquired for distribution by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, who gave it a limited theatrical release in the United States on October 26, 2007.

Plot

In 1947, in Portland, Oregon, infant Richard Pimentel was given up for adoption by his paranoid schizophrenic mother. She later reclaims her son from an orphanage, but his childhood with her as a single mother is turbulent, and he is largely cared for by his maternal grandmother and Chinese-American father, Dell Fong. When Dell dies in an accident at the market he owns, Richard is left in the sole care of his mother, who is institutionalized shortly after.

As an adolescent, Richard realizes that he has a gift for public speaking. Upon graduating high school in 1969, he visited Portland State University as a prospective student. Richard catches the attention of Dr. Ben Padrow, a football coach and head of the university's speech department, and recites a speech for him. Padrow harshly tells Richard that he needs to "live a full life" to gain perspective and hone his natural speaking skills. This inspired Richard to join the military, and he served as a soldier on the battlefield in the Vietnam War. A close-proximity bombing causes Richard to lose the majority of his hearing, and he is left with permanent tinnitus.

Richard returns to Portland, where he enrolls at the university. There, he befriends Mike Stolz, a mercurial alcoholic, and Art Honeyman, a high-IQ writer living with cerebral palsy. Richard and Art become close friends quickly. At a roller skating rink, Richard gets into a confrontation with Nikos, the boyfriend of a fellow university student, Christine, when Richard—using his ability to read lips—observes him insulting Art from a distance. Later, Richard sees Christine on the university campus, and responds to her rideshare advertisement for a trip to Seattle to attend a Jefferson Airplane concert. Richard spends the night at Christine's house and the two have sex. He is shocked upon finding that Christine is an open relationship with Nikos, but agrees to continue dating her.

Upon graduating university, Richard begins a successful career working for an insurance agency. On Art's birthday, Richard takes him out to dinner, but the two are refused service by a waitress and manager, for fear that Art is disturbing other customers. When they protest, Richard and Art are arrested and booked on the grounds of violating an "ugly law," an ordinance targeting the poor and disabled from appearing in public spaces. The incident inspires Richard to quit his insurance job and dedicate his time to nonprofit work helping placing veterans and other people with disabilities in jobs.

In 1978, Richard is fitted with hearing aids for the first time, though they do not provide adequate hearing ability. With Dr. Padrow's help, Richard is introduced to Bill Austin, the founder of Starkey Hearing Technologies, who produce state-of-the-art hearing aids. Meanwhile, Richard, collaborating with Art, begins writing a treatise on the subject of disabled persons. Through the 1980s, Richard's career takes off as he becomes a keynote speaker for the U.S. Government, giving speeches to government agencies and sectors on training and protocols for people with disabilities; he also devises a training program to help educate the public on HIV/AIDS. However, Richard's high-profile career begins to negatively impact his relationship with Christine. When Richard cancels plans with Christine to attend a speaking engagement, Christine decides to end their relationship. Richard is further devastated when Mike commits suicide, and his mother dies in a psychiatric hospital.

Richard reconnects with Christine, now engaged to another man, and the two maintain an amicable friendship. In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act is signed into congress, and Richard's efforts are recognized. Shortly after, Richard and Art celebrate Art's birthday at the diner where they were once refused service.

Cast

Production

Casting

For preparation of his portrayal of Richard Pimentel, Ron Livingston attended a speaking event Pimentel appeared at in Minnesota, and subsequently spent time with Pimentel in order to accurately portray his mannerisms. [3]

Actress Melissa George was compelled to act in the film because her father, an Australian, had fought in the Vietnam War, and sustained lifelong tinnitus and partial hearing loss as a result. [3] Director Steven Sawalich's stepfather William F. Austin, the founder of Starkey Hearing Technologies, arranged for George's father to travel from western Australia to the United States and had him fitted with the company's hearing aids. [3]

Filming

Principal photography of Music Within took place primarily in Portland, Oregon, including the Portland State University campus. [4]

Soundtrack

Though an official soundtrack was not released, the film features the following songs: [lower-alpha 1]

Release

Music Within was selected for the opening night gala of the American Film Institute's Dallas International Film Festival in February 2007. [5]

Box office

The film was given a limited theatrical release in the United States by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on October 26, 2007. [6] In its opening weekend, the film grossed $52,744 in 17 theaters. [1] It went on to earn a total of $154,087 in the United States, and another $33,494 internationally, for a worldwide gross of $187,581. [1]

Writing on the difficulty of marketing the film, journalist Kirk Honeycutt noted: "the challenge faced by MGM is to persuade an audience to risk seeing a movie about events leading up to the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act. The film opens today in 10 markets and will need strong critical support in tandem with MGM’s marketing to create awareness. The film will more than likely make its mark in cable and DVD markets." [7]

Critical response

Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter noted: "Music Within will hook the audience up with a supremely cool and witty real-life character, Richard Pimentel...what should be a tough, sentimental slog whisks by in a breezy, entertaining 94 minutes like a kind of illustrated stand-up comedy routine." [7] Matt Seitz of The New York Times , however, called the film's direction "annoyingly unimaginative," ultimately deeming it "a bad movie with a good heart." [8] Reviewing the film for Slant Magazine , Nick Schager awarded it two out of four stars, noting: "Livingston, a consistently appealing presence who exudes unpretentious everyman charm, successfully sells even the corniest of scenarios—the most groan-worthy of which is a discriminatory pancake house offense that, per uplifting melodramatic requirements—is rectified 20 years later with some heartwarming syrup." [9] Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe echoed a similar sentiment, writing that the film is "everything it ought to be: right-minded, well-intentioned, compassionate. But it doesn't rise above made-for-cable public service announcement, either." [10]

Kevin Crust of the Los Angeles Times praised the film's performances, but felt that the film lost narrative momentum in its second half, "when Pimentel’s dedication to his work...  takes a toll on his relationship with Christine. So much time is spent on obligatory scenes involving answering machines and chance encounters on the street that his work on the ADA seems to get short shrift." [11] Time Out awarded the film three out of five stars, but similarly criticized the film's structure, describing it as a "connect-the-dots biopic" that renders Pimentel's personal story "almost superfluous compared with the more compelling story of how he changed a crippled culture of “ugly” laws (wherein the police had a right to arrest anyone who was physically “unsightly”) to one with required wheelchair accessibility." [12]

Roger Ebert called the film "entertaining" and "sometimes inspiring," but added: "What bothers me is that Music Within takes an individual story, an inspiring one, yes, and then thinks that's all there is to be told. It wasn't one guy who got mad. It was decades of struggle, decades of rejection, decades of streets that couldn't be crossed, stairs that couldn't be climbed, houses that couldn't be lived in and customers who couldn't be bothered." [13]

Accolades

InstitutionCategoryRecipientResultRef.
AFI Dallas International Film Festival Best Narrative Feature FilmMusic WithinWon [14]
St. Louis Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor Michael Sheen Nominated

Home media

Music Within was released on DVD in North America on April 8, 2008, by MGM Home Entertainment. [15] A Blu-ray was released in Germany in 2013 by Universum Film GmbH. [16]

See also

Notes

  1. The soundtrack listing has been adapted from the film's end credits, and the songs are listed in the order they are featured in the film.

Related Research Articles

<i>Wall Street</i> (1987 film) 1987 American drama film by Oliver Stone

Wall Street is a 1987 American crime drama film, directed and co-written by Oliver Stone, which stars Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah, and Martin Sheen. The film tells the story of Bud Fox, a young stockbroker who becomes involved with Gordon Gekko (Douglas), a wealthy, unscrupulous corporate raider.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Sheen</span> American actor (born 1940)

Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez, known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. In a career spanning six decades he has received numerous accolades including three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock Hudson</span> American actor (1925–1985)

Rock Hudson was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. He was a prominent figure in the Golden Age of Hollywood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Sheen</span> American film and television actor (born 1965)

Carlos Irwin Estévez, known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He is known as a leading man in film and television. Over his fifty-year career he has received numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards. In 1994 he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

<i>Somewhere in Time</i> (film) 1980 film by Jeannot Szwarc

Somewhere in Time is a 1980 American romantic fantasy drama film from Universal Pictures, directed by Jeannot Szwarc, and starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Plummer. It is a film adaptation of the novel Bid Time Return (1975) by Richard Matheson, who also wrote the screenplay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel David Moore</span> American character actor and director (born 1977)

Joel David Moore is an American character actor and director. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Moore studied acting in college before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a film career. His first major role was as Owen Dittman in the 2004 comedy Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, followed by roles in the comedy Grandma's Boy (2006), Terry Zwigoff's Art School Confidential (2006), and the independent slasher film Hatchet (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Coppola</span> American filmmaker (born 1965)

Roman François Coppola is an American filmmaker and music video director. He is the son of Francis Ford and Eleanor Coppola, and is known for his film collaborations with Wes Anderson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Honeyman-Scott</span> English guitarist and songwriter (1956–1982)

James Honeyman-Scott was an English rock guitarist, songwriter and founding member of the band the Pretenders.

<i>Deception</i> (1946 film) 1946 American film with Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains directed by Irving Rapper

Deception is a 1946 American film noir drama released by Warner Brothers and directed by Irving Rapper. The film is based on the 1927 play Monsieur Lamberthier by Louis Verneuil. The screenplay was written by John Collier and Joseph Than. It stars Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, who had also appeared together in the highly successful Now, Voyager (1942), which was also directed by Rapper.

Chris Donahue is an American film and television producer. He began his career as a producer in television news and documentaries, then transitioned to narrative film and television at the American Film Institute. Donahue's work has been honored with numerous awards including an Academy Award for Live Action Short Film for producing Visas and Virtue (1998), and an Emmy for his documentary Be Good, Smile Pretty (2003). His love for documentaries has him returning to the form often, and his current interests have him exploring themes in Artificial Intelligence, Creativity, Immersive Storytelling, and Social Impact Entertainment.

Deafula is a 1975 American horror film utilizing American Sign Language. A voice over was provided for those who do not understand sign language. The film starred Peter Wechsberg, who also serves as director and writer, under the pseudonym Peter Wolf. It was the first American Sign Language feature film ever made.

<i>Jonathan Livingston Seagull</i> (film) 1973 US drama film by Hall Bartlett

Jonathan Livingston Seagull is a 1973 American drama film directed by Hall Bartlett, adapted from the 1970 novella of the same name by Richard Bach. The film tells the story of a young seabird who, after being cast out by his stern flock, goes on an odyssey to discover how to break the limits of his own flying speed. The film was produced by filming actual seagulls, then superimposing human dialogue over it. The film's voice actors included James Franciscus in the title role, and Philip Ahn as his mentor, Chiang.

<i>The Other Side of AIDS</i> 2004 American film

The Other Side of AIDS is a 2004 pseudoscience film by Robin Scovill. Through interviews with prominent AIDS denialists and HIV-positive people who have refused anti-HIV medication, the film makes the claim that HIV is not the cause of AIDS and that HIV treatments are harmful, conclusions which are rejected by medical and scientific consensus. The film was reviewed in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter in 2004, and received additional attention in 2005, when Scovill's three-year-old daughter died of untreated AIDS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Pimentel</span> American advocate, public speaker

Richard Keith Pimentel is an American disability rights advocate, trainer, and speaker who was a strong advocate for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He developed training materials aimed to help employers integrate persons with disabilities into the workplace.

<i>Hear No Evil</i> (1993 film) 1993 American film

Hear No Evil is a 1993 American thriller film directed by Robert Greenwald, starring Marlee Matlin, D. B. Sweeney and Martin Sheen. It was released by 20th Century Fox on March 26, 1993. Matlin and Sheen would later co-star on the television series The West Wing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew McConaughey</span> American actor (born 1969)

Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor. He achieved his breakthrough with a supporting performance in the coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused (1993). After a number of supporting roles, his first success as a leading man came in the legal drama A Time to Kill (1996). His career progressed with lead roles in the science fiction film Contact (1997), the historical drama Amistad (1997), and the war film U-571 (2000).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disability in the arts</span> Inclusive practices involving disability

Disability in the arts is an aspect within various arts disciplines of inclusive practices involving disability. It manifests itself in the output and mission of some stage and modern dance performing-arts companies, and as the subject matter of individual works of art, such as the work of specific painters and those who draw.

<i>Dallas Buyers Club</i> 2013 American biographical drama film

Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 American biographical drama film written by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, and directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. The film tells the story of Ron Woodroof, a cowboy diagnosed with AIDS in the mid-1980s, a time when both the etiology and the treatment of HIV/AIDS are poorly understood and its sufferers subject to stigmatization. As part of an ongoing experimental AIDS treatment movement, Woodroof smuggles unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into Texas to treat his symptoms. Here, he distributes them to fellow people with AIDS by establishing the "Dallas Buyers Club", all the while facing opposition from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Two fictional supporting characters, Dr. Eve Saks, and Rayon, were composite roles created from interviews with transgender AIDS patients, activists, and doctors. Presidential biographer and PEN-USA winner Bill Minutaglio wrote the first magazine profile of the Dallas Buyers Club in 1992. The article, which featured interviews with Woodroof and also recreated his dramatic international exploits, attracted widespread attention from filmmakers and journalists.

Disability in the United Kingdom covers a wide range of conditions and experiences, deeply impacting the lives of millions of people. Defined by the Equality Act 2010 as a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, it encompasses various aspects of life, including demographics, legislation, healthcare, employment, and culture. Despite numerous advancements in policy and social attitudes, individuals with disabilities often encounter unique challenges and disparities.

Arthur Honeyman, also known as Art Honeyman, was an American poet, author, and disability rights activist. His book Sam and his Cart was adapted into a movie in 1981. Honeyman is one of the main characters in the 2007 film Music Within.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Music Within". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  2. Friess, Steven (November 5, 2007). "Disabled war veteran's activism forges onto film". USA Today . Archived from the original on December 20, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Music Within". Ability . Vol. 2. 2007. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022.
  4. Loving, Lisa (May 19, 2008). "Pushing for fairness". PSU Magazine . Archived from the original on December 20, 2016.
  5. Sneider, Jeff (February 27, 2007). "AFI Dallas bows to 'Music'". Variety . Archived from the original on May 25, 2020.
  6. "Music Within". AFI Catalog of Feature Films . American Film Institute . Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  7. 1 2 Honeycutt, Kirk (October 25, 2007). "Music Within". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on January 30, 2022.
  8. Seitz, Matt Zoller (October 26, 2007). "How a Hero Hears the World". The New York Times . Archived from the original on January 26, 2021.
  9. Schager, Nick (October 11, 2007). "Music Within". Slant Magazine . Archived from the original on September 30, 2016.
  10. Morris, Wesley (October 26, 2007). "'Music Within' strikes familiar notes". The Boston Globe . Archived from the original on January 30, 2022.
  11. Crust, Kevin (October 26, 2007). "'Music' misses out on dramatic notes". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on September 28, 2020.
  12. "Music Within". Time Out . October 19, 2007. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020.
  13. Ebert, Roger (October 25, 2007). "Blazing a beaten path". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  14. Wilonsky, Robert (April 6, 2008). "AFI Dallas: And the Winners Are..." Dallas Observer . Archived from the original on January 28, 2021.
  15. Spurlin, Thomas (April 8, 2008). "Music Within". DVD Talk . Archived from the original on January 30, 2022.
  16. "Music Within [Blu-ray]". Amazon . Retrieved January 30, 2022.