The Music Never Stopped

Last updated
The Music Never Stopped
The Music Never Stopped.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJim Kohlberg
Written byGwyn Lurie
Gary Marks
Based on"The Last Hippie"
by Oliver Sacks
Produced by Neal Moritz
Starring J.K. Simmons
Julia Ormond
Mía Maestro
Lou Taylor Pucci
CinematographyStephen Kazmierski
Edited byKeith Reamer
Music by Paul Cantelon
Production
companies
Essential Pictures
Mr. Tamborine Man
Distributed by Roadside Attractions
Release dates
  • January 20, 2011 (2011-01-20)(Sundance Film Festival)
  • March 18, 2011 (2011-03-18)(United States)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$342,202 [1]

The Music Never Stopped is a 2011 American drama film directed by Jim Kohlberg, who makes his directorial debut from a script by Gwyn Lurie and Gary Marks.

Contents

It premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and was given a limited release in the US on March 18, 2011.

Plot

Henry Sawyer (J.K. Simmons) and his wife, Helen (Cara Seymour) learn that their only son, Gabriel (Lou Taylor Pucci) has been hospitalized with a brain tumor. They have not seen Gabriel in nearly twenty years; as a teenager, Gabriel left the house following an argument with his father. They learn that their son, who had been living as a homeless drifter, suffers from anterograde amnesia due to his tumor and is unable to recall much of his past or gain any new memories. Meanwhile, Henry is made redundant at his workplace, and though he is reluctant to see Gabriel often due to their prior estrangement, Helen begins working in order to pay for Gabriel's treatment, and presses Henry to visit Gabriel daily at his care facility in order to take a more active role in his progress.

Henry recalls that he and Gabriel bonded over Henry's taste in music, and after doing research that suggests that music can be beneficial to helping patients with memory loss, he enlists the help of a therapist, Dianne, to work with Henry. To Dianne's surprise, Henry, who had previously shown little signs of improvement, becomes eloquent and animated when hearing his favorite music from when he was a teenager. Using the music to prompt him to discuss his memories, it is revealed that Gabriel was named after his uncle, who died in World War II while serving with Henry. Though they were close when Gabriel was a child, they frequently get into arguments when he becomes a teenager over Gabriel's girlfriend and his reluctance to attend college. After one such argument, Henry offers to attend a concert at the high school, where Gabriel is performing with his band. Though Gabriel intends to play one of his father's favorite songs in tribute, the concert is interrupted by another student burning a flag, which Gabriel enthusiastically participates in. Henry is outraged and storms out; back at the family home, Henry rages against Gabriel for disrespecting the flag that his namesake uncle fought and died for, to which Gabriel argues that he is tired of watching his friends getting drafted and dying in Vietnam. Gabriel then runs away, and does not speak to his parents again until the present day.

At first, Henry is upset that Gabriel's progress is not a result of the music that they bonded over, but rather, the music he believed ruined Gabriel's life. At Helen's encouragement and tearful admission that she blames herself for not stopping Gabriel from leaving, Henry trades in his old music for Gabriel's tastes to make an effort to participate in Dianne's work. As a result, he and Gabriel finally connect. Henry admits to pushing Gabriel away, while Gabriel reveals that on the night of the concert, he learned that a close friend was drafted into Vietnam—and though Gabriel never learned of his fate, Henry informs him in the present day that he was killed in the war. Stunned by Gabriel's progress, Henry suggests to Dianne that Gabriel might be able to form new memories if he can connect them to music he's never heard before. Dianne tells him that it is possible, though to not get his hopes up.

Henry suffers a heart attack. While in the hospital, he wins tickets to see The Grateful Dead—Gabriel's favorite band, but who he was never able to see live—due to knowledge gained from his bonding with his son. Gabriel's doctor warns against the idea, as Henry's health is already weak, but Henry tearfully insists that he needs this chance to truly communicate with his son. The two attend the concert and have an incredible time. Gabriel hears Touch of Grey for the first time (which was released after he stopped forming new memories) and after they return to the care facility, they share a tender hug.

Not long afterwards, Henry passes away. Gabriel is upset at the news, having grown accustomed to Henry's visits. During the funeral, the priest plays what Henry claims to have been his favorite song; to the surprise of his gathered friends, it is not his old taste in music, but "Touch of Grey." Gabriel, remembering listening to the song with Henry at the concert, breaks down in tears. While leaving the gravesite, he describes to Helen the first time he heard the song, proving Henry's theory to Dianne to be correct.

Cast

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 67% approval rating, based on 49 reviews. [2] On Metacritic it has a score of 60% based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [3]

Ty Burr of The Boston Globe remarked the film was "one to remember", also calling it "sentimental, yet so honest and eccentric that it rises above schmaltz". [4] Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club compared the film's story to The King's Speech , giving praise to J.K. Simmons and Lou Taylor Pucci and calling the film a "powerful, even shattering look at music's power to unite where it once divided". [5]

Music

Soundtrack

Original music featured in the film is by Paul Cantelon. [6]

Additionally, the following songs were featured in the film and published as a standalone soundtrack album in 2011 on various online digital platforms, including Amazon and Apple Music. [7]

The album features one of the original pieces composed for the film by Paul Cantelon, 'Gabriel's Theme'.

Music by the band the Grateful Dead features prominently in the soundtrack and film.

Track Listing
  1. "Till There Was You" (Peggy Lee)
  2. "Uncle John's Band" (Grateful Dead)
  3. "Sugar Magnolia" (Live) (Grateful Dead)*
  4. "I Threw It All Away" (Bob Dylan)
  5. "Magic Carpet Ride" (Steppenwolf)
  6. "Mellow Yellow" (Donovan)
  7. "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
  8. "Not Fade Away/Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad" (Live) (Grateful Dead)
  9. "Truckin'” (Live) (Grateful Dead)*
  10. "Touch Of Grey" (Live) (Grateful Dead)*
  11. "Ripple" (Grateful Dead)
  12. "Summer Song" (The Tulips)*
  13. "Gabriel's Theme" (Paul Cantelon)

* indicates previously unreleased tracks [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grateful Dead</span> American rock band

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, and world music with psychedelia; for its differentiated live performances centered around improvisation; and for its devoted fan base, known as "Deadheads". According to the musician and writer Lenny Kaye, "Their music touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists." For the range of their influences and the structure of their live performances, the Grateful Dead are considered "the pioneering godfathers of the jam band world".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Gabriel</span> English musician, composer and songwriter (born 1950)

Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched a successful solo career with "Solsbury Hill" as his first single. His fifth studio album, So (1986), is his best-selling release and is certified triple platinum in the UK and five times platinum in the US. The album's most successful single, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards and, according to a report in 2011, it was MTV's most played music video of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradley Nowell</span> American musician (1968–1996)

Bradley James Nowell was an American musician and the lead singer and guitarist of the ska punk band Sublime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deadhead</span> Dedicated fan of the Grateful Dead and/or spinoff bands from the Grateful Dead

A Deadhead or Dead Head is a fan of the American rock band the Grateful Dead. The Deadhead subculture originated in the 1970s, when a number of fans began traveling to see the Grateful Dead in as many shows or festival venues as they could. As more people began attending live performances and festivals, a community developed. The Deadhead community has since gone on to create slang and idioms unique to them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Kimock</span> American rock guitarist (born 1955)

Steve Kimock is an American rock guitarist. He was a member of San Francisco Bay Area bands Zero and KVHW.

<i>Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band</i> (film) 1978 film by Michael Schultz

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a 1978 American jukebox musical comedy film directed by Michael Schultz, written by Henry Edwards and starring an ensemble cast led by Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees. Depicting the loosely constructed story of a band as they wrangle with the music industry and battle evil forces bent on stealing their instruments and corrupting their hometown of Heartland, the film is presented in a form similar to that of a rock opera, with the songs providing "dialogue" to carry the story. George Burns has most of the spoken lines that act to clarify the plot and provide further narration but there are a few other lines throughout the movie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lou Christie</span> American singer-songwriter

Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco, known professionally by his stage name Lou Christie, is an American pop and soft rock singer-songwriter known for several hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 US chart-topper "Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 UK number-two "I'm Gonna Make You Mine".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hill Auditorium</span> Performance venue on University of Michigan campus

Hill Auditorium is the largest performance venue on the University of Michigan campus, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The auditorium was named in honor of Arthur Hill (1847-1909), who served as a regent of the university from 1901 to 1909. He bequeathed $200,000 to the university for the construction of a venue for lectures, musical performances, and other large productions. Opened in 1913, the auditorium was designed by Albert Kahn and Associates. It was renovated by the same firm beginning in 2002 and was re-opened in 2004.

Alpine Valley Music Theatre is a 37,000-capacity amphitheater located on County Highway D in East Troy, Wisconsin. The seasonal venue was built in 1977 and it features a characteristic wooden roof, covering the 7,500-seat pavilion and a sprawling lawn. It was the largest amphitheater in the United States until 1993, when the Glen Helen Pavilion was built in California.

<i>The Grateful Dead Movie</i> 1977 rock concert documentary by Jerry Garcia, Leon Gast

The Grateful Dead Movie, released in 1977 and directed by Jerry Garcia, is a film that captures live performances from rock band the Grateful Dead during an October 1974 five-night run at Winterland in San Francisco. These concerts marked the beginning of a hiatus, with the October 20, 1974, show billed as "The Last One". The band would return to touring in 1976. The film features the "Wall of Sound" concert sound system that the Dead used for all of 1974. The movie also portrays the burgeoning Deadhead scene. Two albums have been released in conjunction with the film and the concert run: Steal Your Face and The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack.

<i>Blues for Allah</i> 1975 studio album by Grateful Dead

Blues for Allah is the eighth studio album by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded February 27 – May 7, 1975, and released September 1, 1975. It was the band's third album on their own Grateful Dead Records label and their third studio album in a row. Blues for Allah was the group's highest-charting album until 1987's In the Dark, reaching No. 12 during a thirteen-week stay on the Billboard Album Chart.

<i>Steal Your Face</i> 1976 live album by Grateful Dead

Steal Your Face is a live double album by the Grateful Dead, released in June 1976. It is the band's fifth live album and thirteenth overall. The album was recorded October 17–20, 1974, at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom, during a "farewell run" that preceded a then-indefinite hiatus. It was the fourth and final album released by the band on their original Grateful Dead Records label. The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack, a second album from the same run of shows, was released in 2005.

Jeffrey Lael Simmons is an American rock musician, best known as a former member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention.

<i>The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack</i> 2005 live album by the Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack is a five-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on October 16–20, 1974, and was released on March 15, 2005. The album was remixed from the original 16-track concert soundboard tapes.

<i>Dicks Picks Volume 33</i> 2004 live album by Grateful Dead

Dick's Picks Volume 33 is the 33rd installment of the Dick's Pick's series of Grateful Dead concert recordings. It is a four CD set that contains two consecutive complete shows, recorded on October 9 and October 10, 1976 at Oakland Coliseum Stadium in Oakland, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Good Lovin'</span> 1965 single by The Rascals

"Good Lovin'" is a song written by Rudy Clark and Arthur Resnick that was a #1 hit single for the Young Rascals in 1966.

Paul Cantelon is an American contemporary classical music and popular music composer, a film score composer and an actor He is also a violinist, pianist, and accordionist, and a founding member of the American alternative band Wild Colonials.

"Someday We'll All Be Free" is a 1973 song by Donny Hathaway from the album Extension of a Man. The song was released as the flipside to the single "Love, Love, Love." Though the song was only released as an uncharted A-side, it is considered an R&B standard, having been covered by many artists over the years.

Shark is a Los Angeles-based musician, film composer, radio host, and is a founding member and guitarist for American alternative band Wild Colonials. He also records under the name Shark and Co.. The name Sharkey is an Anglicised form of the Gaelic "O'Searcaigh", composed of the elements "O", male descendant of, with "Searcach", a byname meaning "beloved". The name originated in County Tyrone, and is now to be found located in considerable numbers in various parts of Northern Ireland.

<i>Road Trips Volume 4 Number 5</i> 2011 live album by Grateful Dead

Road Trips Volume 4 Number 5 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. Subtitled Boston Music Hall 6–9–76, it includes the complete concert recorded on June 9, 1976, at the Boston Music Hall in Boston, Massachusetts. It also includes six songs recorded on June 12, 1976 at the same venue. The 17th of the Road Trips series of archival albums, it was released as a three-disc CD on November 1, 2011.

References

  1. ↑ "The Music Never Stopped". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  2. ↑ "The Music Never Stopped (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved June 7, 2015.
  3. ↑ "The Music Never Stopped". Metacritic .
  4. ↑ "The Music Never Stopped". Boston Globe . Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  5. ↑ Nathan Rabin (2011). "The Music Never Stopped". The A.V. Club . Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  6. ↑ "The Music Never Stopped (2011)". The SoundtrackINFO Project. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  7. ↑ "The Music Never Stopped (Music from the Motion Picture)". Apple Music. 2011-03-15. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  8. ↑ "THE MUSIC NEVER STOPPED SOUNDTRACK BRINGS OUT UNHEARD DEAD". dead.net. 2011-03-15. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.