The Music Never Stopped

      You could say that I am almost as passionate about music as I am about movies.  Not nearly as knowledgeable but I love it just the same.  This is a wonderful movie for music lovers.  I mean the real passionate type that feel it not just listen to it.  The people who know and appreciate how much music plays a role in our lives. The Music Never Stopped (2011) is a beautifully told emotional drama of a father and his estranged son trying to learn to reconnect.  When I saw People Like Us (2012) I was surprised at the "old fashion" feel of it.  Just a really good story about a family trying to figure life out. The Music Never Stopped is very much the same feel. 

      Lou Taylor Pucci (Carriers, Beginners, Horsemen, The Go-Getter) plays Gabriel Sawyer.  I have never seen Lou Taylor in anything before. What a talented young man. He did an amazing job.  Gabriel is a man who hasn’t seen his parents in 20 years. The movie takes place in 1986.  That is important because it sets the time period for the music and what was taking place in the world.  When Gabriel and his parents are reunited it is not under good circumstances.  Gabriel has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and is unable to create new memories and barely remembers the old ones.  He is just not connecting with anyone or anything.  The movie tells the story through flash backs of various events.  Lou Taylor played the part so well.

      Gabriel’s father started sharing his love of music with his son at a very young age.  He would play a song and ask his son to name the song, the artist and the story of the first time his dad had heard it.  What a fascinating idea! While the dad is trying to connect with his son who doesn’t speak and is pretty well catatonic he comes across an article.  It is about a therapist who believes music can be used as therapy.  Our brains are so amazing that they make very strong connections to music and events in our life.  The dad thinks it is his music that is awakening something in his son but it's not. It is Gabriel’s own music that he is connected to. The songs from his own time and his own stories that bring him back.

      The Music Never Stopped is a very touching, beautifully told story.  I really liked the idea of music connecting us to memories. I know how true that is. To this day there are songs that I hear and I am back in high school or some other important time in my life.