SVS: “The Music Never Stopped”

Today’s Streaming Video Suggestion (SVS) features an incredible performance from the ubiquitous (but rarely-headlining) character actor J.K. Simmons, a ton of great music — music that, unlike the vast majority of soundtracks, plays an essential role in the story — and conflict. Lots and lots of conflict.

And it’s not Whiplash.

It’s The Music Never Stopped. And it’s on NETFLIX INSTANT and AMAZON PRIME. And YOUTUBE($) and AMAZON INSTANT($). (I’ve actually recommended it in the past, but there are a much wider range of streaming options available now.)

From the author of Awakenings comes this heartwarming tale of a father and son who find a connection through the music that embodied the generation gap of the 1960s. An unforgettable soundtrack features The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Crosby Stills & Nash and more.

This is a film that I stumbled across accidentally a few years ago. In fact, I don’t think I’d ever even seen (or heard) its name before its poster flashed across my Netflix screen. I’m mildly ashamed to admit that my first thought was “Hey! J. Jonah Jameson!” and my second was “Hey! Farmer’s Insurance Guy!” …but only mildly ashamed. Because that’s how I managed to get hooked into a pretty great little film:

Henry’s regret and eventual transformation are deeply moving, especially to someone like me, who is too inclined to stick to my guns simply because they’re “mine.” Americans love winners, and that makes admitting error a difficult pill to swallow. Combine the inherent longing for victory with the inescapable fact that some battles are deeply and profoundly worth fighting, and it is small wonder that we are such a contentious society. But heat without light avails nothing, hindering not only our ability to understand the positions of those we have engaged in debate, but our ability to learn from them, as well.

Despite the encouragement of Charlie Sheen and Al Davis, winning is far less important than being right. Our stubbornness and our pride in the validity of our positions can be a valuable tool. But we must never allow that stubbornness—our own deep-seated desire for victory—to get in the way of what is true.

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