Music Of The Heart [VHS] [2000]

Meryl Streep is Roberta Guaspari, given a chance to teach violin to some kids in east harlem in New York as a substitute by principal Janet Williams (Angela Bassett). She is a single mother with two boys of her own and initially has to provide the instruments for the children herself. Though some of the parents can't see how playing the violin will be of any use to their children she pushes forward with a little encouragement from teachers like Isabel Vasquez (Gloria Estefan) and the response of her students.

She is demanding of her pupils, which rubs both them and their parents the wrong way at first. But as time goes on and she adjusts to them and they begin to know her the program takes on a life of it's own, giving the kids a sense of accomplishment and the ability to dream of something better in their lives. As the years pass the program becomes well known and is a shining point to a school system that is not always equipped to deal with the number of children as compared to the number of good teachers.

Roberta's boyfriend Brian (Aidan Quinn) can not see Roberta's true worth and she finally lets the relationship drop and concentrates on her kids. Her own boys have difficulty with their father's leaving, and then Brian, but finally grow up enough to want happiness for their mother and even try to set her up with someone. This is not a one note movie or a one note performance as some would have you believe, but a fine and well rounded film full of love and hope.

When school funding threatens to close the program Roberta is aided by many famous musicians and she and some of her finest students are able to raise the funds with a performance at Carnegie Hall, playing with Isaac Stern and others. Streep has a luminous and heartrending turn in this wonderful film. Cloris Leachman has a nice role as well as Claire's not so perfect mother.

This film shows what can be accomplished if we make the effort to teach all children the arts. It is just as important as academics, as this warm and caring film based on the real life of Roberta Guaspari shows. It is a movie worth owning and watching with your own kids....

Streep plays the part with such panache that you will forget that she is queen of all accents. Here she is playing an ordinary woman who played an extraordinary role in society. Roberta taught children not only about the power of music but also the gift of 'believing that you can do anything.'

I would recommend this film to anyone who wants to see a film that will make them think, laugh and cry within a two hour time frame. It is a film which has received a hard time from the press and undeservedly so. Horror-meister Wes Craven directs the film at a steady pace and seems to really care about his central character. He directs the film sensitively without drowning the central themes in Hollywood treacle. After Scream and the Freddy movies- who would have thought it eh?

Ignore the critics and any pre-conceptions that you may have. If you buy this film you will not fail to be moved. And you may just realise that although Meryl Streep may not be seen as a box office star, she truly is the best actress that Hollywood has to offer and that she deserved an oscar for playing Roberta with such passion and verve.

If you are fed up with teen movies and long for a film to move you in a way that The Bridges Of Madison County did- then Music Of The Heart is your kind of movie.