The Music Never Stopped
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Review by: ~ Mo
Produced and Directed by Jim Kohlberg
Based on the essay "The Last Hippie" by Oliver Sacks, M.D. (best selling author of "Awakenings")
I recently attended a private screening of this film in Los Angeles. It pulled at my heart strings, touched me deeply and I highly recommend it to anyone that loves classic rock. That being said, bring some tissues - this film is a tear-jerker to be sure. Some may consider it a chick flick, but I beg to differ. And I will say, you would have to be soulless not to be moved by The Music Never Stopped.
Featuring music by Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Crosby, Stills and Nash, and Buffalo Springfield, the music is a character all its own in this film.
The Music Never Stopped stars J.K. Simmons as determined father Henry Sawyer, Lou Taylor Pucci as his son Gabriel Sawyer, Cara Seymour as Gabriel's strong willed mother, Helen Sawyer, and Julia Ormond as music therapist, Dr. Dianne Daley.
As a young boy growing up, Gabriel and his father Henry built a strong bond listening to the music his Dad loved. After many years of being estranged from his parents, as a result of his rebelious youth, Gabriel's mother receives a call informing her that her son has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Turns out that Gabriel's long term memory simply stops at some point. In desperate attempts to reconnect with his son, Henry retains the assistance of a music therapist who quickly learns that when Gabriel hears the rock music that he loved, it reengages him to the world.
I absolutely loved the scene where Henry calls in to his local radio station in an attempt to win Grateful Dead tickets for him and Gabriel - it is fantastic!
When all is said and done, Gabriel teaches his father a thing or two about life and about the music that ultimately and quite miraculously brings father and son back together.
It should be noted that The Music Never Stopped is based on a true story. As a consulting neurologist at Beth Abraham Hospital - Bronx, New York, Dr. Oliver Sacks met "Greg F.", the patient on whom Gabriel's character is based. I understand that after almost fifteen years of working with Greg, Dr. Sacks arranged for Greg to meet drummer Mickey Hart and go to a Grateful Dead concert. Dr. Sacks wrote about Greg in his essay, "The Last Hippie," published in An Anthropologist on Mars (1995).
"If I knew the way, I would take you home" -The Grateful Dead, Ripple
Special thanks to Helene & Jim Ladd and Los Angeles based radio station 95.5 KLOS for inviting me to this screening.
For more information about The Music Never Stopped, visit the official website:
http://themusicneverstopped-movie.com/
