The Music Never Stopped

This article is about the film. For the album, see The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead. For the song, see Blues for Allah.
The Music Never Stopped
Directed by Jim Kohlberg
Produced by Neal Moritz
Written by Gwyn Lurie
Gary Marks
Based on The Last Hippie 
by Oliver Sacks
Starring J.K. Simmons
Julia Ormond
Mía Maestro
Lou Taylor Pucci
Music by Paul Cantelon
Cinematography Stephen Kazmierski
Edited by Keith Reamer
Production
company
Essential Pictures
Mr. Tamborine Man
Distributed by Roadside Attractions
Release dates
  • January 20, 2011 (Sundance Film Festival)
  • March 18, 2011 (United States)
Running time
105 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $150,515[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.

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

Plot

Based on Oliver Sacks' essay The Last Hippie, the film tells the father-son relationship between Henry Sawyer (J.K. Simmons) and his son, Gabriel (Lou Taylor Pucci), who suffers from a brain tumor that prevents him from forming new memories. Henry, with his son unable to shed light on their strained relationship, must connect with him through music.

Cast

Release

Critical response

The film currently holds a 64% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 47 reviews.[2] 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."[3] Nathan Rabin of the AV 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."[4]

References

  1. "The Music Never Stopped". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  2. "The Music Never Stopped (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  3. "The Music Never Stopped". Boston Globe. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  4. "The Music Never Stopped". A.V. Club. Retrieved April 4, 2011.

External links