It’s 1987, and Pigpen is dead. And if that reference to the Dead’s organist didn’t — ahem — strike a chord, you might want to stop reading here, because The Music Never Stopped isn’t for you. This father–son tearjerker, based on a true story, could just as easily be passed off as a glorified homage to the Grateful Dead.
After the removal of a brain tumor leaves him with amnesia, Gabriel Sawyer (Pucci) undergoes experimental music therapy in which each song he hears brings him back to the exact period he first heard it. This presents a problem for his stuffy, old–school father Henry (Simmons), since Gabe’s favorite music is the ’60s rock that Henry believes drove him to run away from home as a teenager, 20 years earlier. But while Henry abhors rock and roll, he eventually comes around, realizing that if Bob Dylan and the Dead are the only things that can connect him to his son, he’ll embrace them wholeheartedly.
Director Kohlberg makes a strong effort in his debut, but there are still aspects of The Music Never Stopped that are notably amateurish. The flashbacks to Gabe’s adolescence come across as silly and cartoonish portrayals of long–haired hippies rather than intimate portrayals of youth, and the interactions between Henry and his wife come across as stilted.
The film hits a turning point in one particularly poignant scene involving Gabe, Henry and Dylan’s “Desolation Row.” The moment offers the perfect balance of heartbreaking chemistry and father–son tension. Regrettably, Simmons and Pucci don’t keep that affective register alive throughout the entire movie.
Coming of age ’70s and ’80s movies have seen a surge in popularity in the last decade with hits like Almost Famous and Adventureland. With a bit more polish, The Music Never Stopped could easily have been one of those films. It has the family connection, the missed chance at love and, most importantly, the music. But phenomenal soundtrack aside, this indie flick fails to come across as anything more than a strong made–for–TV movie.
3/5 Stars The Music Never Stopped Directed by: Jim Kohlberg Starring: Lou Taylor Pucci, J.K. Simmons, Julia Ormon Rated PG, 105 min.
