Dragged Down By A Weak Second Half

Rating: 6/10 (22 January 2009)

Somewhat reminiscent (in the basic story, at least) of "A Beautiful Mind," "Shine" offers a take on the story of Australian pianist David Helfgott. I understand that there's debate on the accuracy of the film, both in terms of Helfgott's background and his piano playing skill. Knowing nothing of his background and little of the skills needed to play the piano, I'll choose to avoid the controversy and deal simply with the movie. It started off very strongly. The first half offered a powerful exploration of Helfgott's childhood, at the hands of a domineering father as well as a look at the early indications of both his abilities as a pianist and the first hints of mental illness. It was a little bit slow paced, but interesting nonetheless. Something happened, though, at the point at which David seemed to go truly insane after his Rachmaninoff recital. The movie itself seemed to lose its focus at that point, and it became what seemed to me to be a largely unconnected series of events offering a taste (but not much more) of Helfgott's later life in a rush, which was far less interesting than the first half. Geoffrey Rush was truly excellent as Helfgott, as was Alex Rafalowicz, who played Helfgott as a child. I was also impressed with Armin Mueller-Stahl's performance as Helfgott's father. The character of Gillian (played by Lynn Redgrave, who became Helfgott's wife) seemed to be introduced far too quickly, and I had no idea how they ended up suddenly married. Redgrave did well with the part, but there was little substance to the character. As far as I recall, there was also no mention of the fact that Helfgott had been previously married.
The comparatively weaker second half pulled this down a fair bit in my estimation. In the end, I'd say it was OK, but not much more than that. 6/10