Music of the Heart
Miramax Films | Release Date: October 29, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
18
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Wonderful spirit, humanity and humor. Read full review
77
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
The year's first sure-fire Oscar nominee has arrived with flying colors. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
No actress of her generation inhabits characters as thoroughly and convincingly as she (Streep) does, and this performance carries the movie Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
This one basically just sticks to the real story, which has all the emotional wallop that's needed. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Avoids the potentially suffocating pall of uplift hovering over its quite exhilarating story. Read full review
75
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
Yearning for an old-fashioned movie with a well-told, uplifting message? Music of the Heart is playing your song. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
A teary appreciation of the value of a good teacher, the joy of music and the payoffs of discipline and hard work. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Streep is simply amazing to behold, an actress who invests every fiber of her being -- every gesture, every inflection, every strand of hair -- into her performance. Read full review
70
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
An affirmation of the power of music to provide beauty, pleasure and a sense of accomplishment. Read full review
70
VarietyDavid Stratton
A gloriously sentimental true-life drama Read full review
65
TNT RoughCutSjohnna McCray
Bring two boxes of tissue and a girlfriend to lean on for this blowout tearjerker. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Tear-inducing feel-gooder that only a curmudgeon could find fault with. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
The choppy film is like a composition crowded with competing themes. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJohn Anderson
A lot of heart and a lot of music. It just doesn't sing. Read full review
60
Film.comTom Keogh
Streep delivers another of her chameleon-like transformations in appearance, accent, and manner. Read full review
60
Rolling StonePeter Travers
If "Mr. Holland's Opus" made you puke, you'd better bring a bucket to this true-life weepie about the importance of teaching music in schools.
58
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
So sloppily and unabashedly sentimental that it can make you laugh and cry at the same time -- and often at the same things. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It all seems terribly familiar. Read full review
50
SalonMary Elizabeth Williams
Falls flat for its skittish reluctance to bear any resemblance to an actual Wes Craven film. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverAndy Klein
So uplifting, it's almost...gross. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Feels more like an earnest commercial for music education than successful entertainment. Read full review
50
NewsweekAndrea C. Basora
In the end, it's just another novice-teacher-takes-on-inner-city-kids-and-nobody's-life-will-ever-be-the-same film Read full review
50
TimeRichard Schickel
What saves this movie from hopeless sentimentality is Meryl Streep's subtle performance.
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The story's can-do attitude and moments of soaring music make it a must-see for moviegoers seeking positive visions on the screen. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Self-congratulatory feature, which artificially exalts the character--a classic saint with clay feet--by casting a grande dame and by reducing her motives to facile psychodrama Read full review
50
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Solid raw material, but the execution is overcooked. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Full of nuanced performances (Streep in particular) and wonderfully enveloping music. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A sentimental epic that forgets to include the sentiment Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Another sentimental mushfest disguised as a movie. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Oh, Mr. Craven, give us a "Scream." Read full review
40
SlateDavid Edelstein
The credits had just started and I was already looking for a barf bag. Read full review
38
New York PostLou Lumenick
Watching Meryl Streep act can be an exhausting experience - and never more so than during Music of the Heart. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Rarely connects with reality. Read full review
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