The Music Never Stopped
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: March 18, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinMar 17, 2011
The film emerges as a powerful, even shattering look as music's power to unite where it once divided. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 31, 2011
A drably directed yet terrifically affecting drama about family bonds, classic rock, and the human brain. It's sentimental, yet so honest and eccentric that it rises above schmaltz. Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickMar 18, 2011
Unpretentious and unexpectedly moving. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleMar 17, 2011
In key spots, thanks to Simmons' brilliantly wounded gruffness and Pucci's nimble toggling act between vacancy and awakened spirit, The Music Never Stopped achieves an admirable poignancy about our emotional, healing relationship to the songs we love. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJames GreenbergMar 15, 2011
An effectively emotional look at the power of music therapy to trigger memories lost after brain surgery. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis HarveyMar 15, 2011
The novel premise and otherwise nuanced performances are enough to hold attention. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMar 18, 2011
Often static and follows a familiar trajectory. Yet it has power, partly because Simmons does a fine job of showing how hurt Henry is that his taste didn't imprint on Gabe beyond grade school; what was their music became, simply, dad's music. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsApr 1, 2011
A medical drama that pays lip service to the healing power of music but never finds the rhythm. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMar 31, 2011
The true wonder of this low-budget movie, however, is its acquisition of the rights to so much of the previously mentioned music. It's almost exclusively Dylan and the Dead, but damned if you won't be stopping for some Cherry Garcia ice cream on the way home. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubMar 17, 2011
The songs and a couple of strong performances are only good enough to make the film watchable, not exceptional. Read full review
50
Boxoffice MagazineRay GreeneMar 15, 2011
The Music Never Stopped isn't exactly good, but it's definitely better than you fear it is when you reach the halfway mark. Read full review
50
Village VoiceEric HynesMar 15, 2011
In a rare leading role, character actor Simmons is saddled with the entirety of the film's diagrammatic emotional arc, briskly (and tediously) about-facing on matters of fatherhood, activism, and guitar rock, while a too-boyish Pucci is fatally unconvincing as a former band leader. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearMar 15, 2011
These kinds of disease-fueled dramas already tend to be soap-operatic, but Kohlberg isn't taking any chances; by the time father and son end up at a Dead show in matching tie-dyed outfits, the director has aggressively, insistently overplayed audience heartstrings like Jerry Garcia in a long-winded solo. Read full review
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