I took a personal holiday last Thursday to spend the day with my bride. I had never spent an entire day with a 53 year old woman before and that is one of the things I want to do. I also want to spend time with a 54 ..55 ...56 etc. year old woman and expect to get that opportunity too, someday. We started with a brunch at a new restaurant we recently discovered, ran a few errands and went a movie. Since I was taking a valuable vacation day, I had the honor of selecting the movie. I picked a brand new movie playing at the local eclectic movie house titled "The Music Never Stopped".
I had seen previews and became interested because it featured music from one of my favorite bands, The Grateful Dead. It seems the rest of the world is just now learning about their music - something I have known for nearly 35 years. I also found the movie had a plot - another plus when selecting a movie. Knowing that -T would never pick the movie, I did. She rolled her eyes and agreed to come along. The following is an abridged version of the movie's description.
"The Music Never Stopped," based on the case study named "The Last Hippie" by a doctor who also wrote "Awakenings", which led to a movie that starred Robin Williams. The stories are very similar. "The Music Never Stopped," tells the story of a father (Henry) and prodigal son (Gabriel) adjusting to the son's cerebral trauma.
Set in 1967, after the father forbids him to see a Grateful Dead concert, son Gabriel runs away from home. Nearly twenty years later, Henry, a straight-laced engineer and lover of big band music, is shocked to learn that his estranged son requires major surgery to remove a suddenly discovered brain tumor. After the operation, it is found the tumor damaged the part of his brain that facilitates the creation of new memories.
For Gabriel, past, present, and future become indistinguishable, and he lives fixed in the era of Vietnam, acid trips, and psychedelic music. Determined not to let their son slip away again, Henry and wife Helen vow to connect with Gabriel, who is barely able to communicate effectively. Unhappy with Gabriel's lack of progress, Henry does his own research on brain injuries, which leads him to Dr. Dianne Daly. She is a music therapist who has used her methods to make significant progress with victims of brain tumors.
As Diane works with Gabriel, she realizes that he is most responsive to the music of the Rock and Roll era - The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and particularly the Grateful Dead. Even though he is unaware that the era of his music has long passed, the effect is remarkable, and he begins to be able to have conversations and express himself. Although Henry loathes rock and roll, he is determined to create new memories and salvage his relationship with his son. While his own health fails, Henry begins his own pilgrimage through the bands of the sixties. As he learns the songs that animate his son's soul, he indeed begins to form an unusual but emotionally vibrant bond with the child he thought he had lost.
While -T will have a different opinion, I absolutely loved the movie. I connected with the plot on many levels. I related as a son, as a father, and as a brain damaged deadhead. -T was surprised that I could stay awake. She had a difficult time doing the same. She asks why I hated Ordinary People so much when I liked The Music Never Stopped. Both had a similar emotional plot, (I think because I slept through Ordinary People). Easy. Play Grateful Dead music as the soundtrack to any movie and I'm there.
