Wonderful movie.....

Rating: 9/10 (8 September 2006)

I found this to be an uplifting movie and not at all tragic.
It's about a man who has life happen to him while he's making other plans.
Richard Dreyfuss shows again what a gifted character actor he is. From "What about Bob?" to "Mr.Holland's Opus", we see his incredible range from drama to comedy. He is one of the great character actors of his generation.
Dreyfuss really puts his heart into this performance, like when he sings to Cole. You can see the sweat on his brow, and although he's no John Lennon, I thought his singing was pretty good.
Also, in this age of techno wizadry, you can't always trust what you see on the screen, but it looked to me like he was actually playing the piano, in which case, another facet of this talented man.
His character agonizes over a potentital relationship with a beautiful and talented student in a midlife crisis, but at the end makes the right decision.
And the ending, it was so moving that even the cast had tears in their eyes, and I somehow don't think that was fake.
The timeline of events from the 60's to the 90's was also excellent.
Overall, a beautiful movie, and everyone put in a great performance. I thought it had the right balance, without getting overly sentimental and sugar coated, and evoked a feeling of the times with the music and settings.
I take this movie out and watch it every once in a while.