Music of the Heart (1999)
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63% of critics liked it
(87 reviews) -
68% of users liked it
(11,820 ratings)
After devoting his career to such horror films as Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Last House on the Left, director Wes Craven makes a dramatic change of pace with this inspiring drama about a teacher who helps change the lives of her students. Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras (Meryl Streep) teaches… More After devoting his career to such horror films as Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Last House on the Left, director Wes Craven makes a dramatic change of pace with this inspiring drama about a teacher who helps change the lives of her students. Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras (Meryl Streep) teaches at an elementary school in Harlem, where discipline is a higher priority than the lively arts. But Roberta believes that studying music will give the children a sense of purpose invaluable in later life. Despite indifference from the school administration and budget cuts that force her to seek outside funding (and even threaten her job), Roberta struggles to teach the violin to her students, instilling a love of classical music in kids who might otherwise never have heard Bach or Mozart, and leading to a student recital at Carnegie Hall. Angela Bassett, Cloris Leachman, and Aidan Quinn highlight the supporting cast, and virtuoso violinists Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, and Mark O'Connor appear as themselves. The Music of the Heart is based on a true story; the real Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras and her students can be seen in the documentary Small Wonders. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Wes Craven
- Written By
- Pamela Gray
- Genres
- Drama, Kids & Family
PG,
- In Theaters
- Oct 29, 1999 Wide
- Studio
- Miramax
Critic Reviews
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Derek Adams, Time Out
Meryl dominates the proceedings. She simply disappears into the role, and the movie, for all its educational impulses, becomes about watching her do it.
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Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
Moves with more dexterity than most dedicated-teacher flicks.
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Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
The tone of inspirational uplift is familiar from movies like Stand and Deliver and Mr. Holland's Opus -- which is to say, it's familiarly awful.
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Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
One of the year's most heartfelt movies.
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Jeff Millar, Houston Chronicle
For its first three laps, this inspirational - teacher movie moves too slowly, even with the head start I give inspirational - teacher movies.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Meryl Streep
as Roberta Tsavaras
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Aidan Quinn
as Brian Sinclair
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Angela Bassett
as Janet Williams
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Cloris Leachman
as Assunta Guaspari
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Gloria Estefan
as Isabel Vasquez
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Josh Pais
as Dennis
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Jay O Sanders
as Dan
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Charlie Hofheimer
as Nick (17)
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Kieran Culkin
as Lexi (15)
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Michael Angarano
as Nick (7)
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Henry Dinhofer
as Lexi (5)
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Isaac Stern
as himself
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Itzhak Perlman
as himself
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Arnold Steinhardt
as himself
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Mark O'Connor
as Himself
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Michael Tree
as himself
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Charles Veal Jr.
as himself
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Karen Briggs
as herself
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Sandra Park
as herself
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Diane Monroe
as herself
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Jonathan Feldman
as himself
- Jane Leeves
- Robert Ari
- Teddy Coluca
