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Wes Craven (yes, THAT Wes Craven) directed this inspirational biopic about Roberta Guaspari (Meryl Streep), who started a music program in an impoverished inner city middle school that eventually went on to win national attention and acclaim.

This film treads awfully close to made-for-T.V. territory, but Streep is such a good actress that she keeps a tight grip on the runaway sentimentality that's always present in the screenplay. But in any case, who cares? This IS a feel good story, and it's a good enough movie that you can simply give in to letting it make you feel good without also making you feel guilty by being suckered.

Grade: B+

In honour of the passing of Wes Craven, I wanted to seek out a film of his. Of course, as the go-to-guy for horror movies, my least favourite genre, I had to scan through his filmography to find the bizarrely out-of-character film Music of the Heart. As the only non-horror film on the list, it won the honour fairly easily.

It surprises me to no end that a horror film maestro could create what is probably one of the best feel-good movies I have ever seen. I can pick a passion project when I see it, and I am positive that Craven was passionate about this story and to telling it right. When I was growing up, music lessons were everything to me. You could escape into a whole other world when you practised, and the instrument became a friend when none other might be. This film captured that more than any other I've seen.

For a character who looks and sounds like Meryl Streep, it is amazing how much Meryl Streep vanishes into Roberta. She captures with full conviction the passion she has for her music, whilst also layering her character with personality quirks that inform us why her marriage has broken down. Streep layers that with bursts of anger, sadness and even humour that never feel out of place because they feel like Roberta's real emotions. She could have walked into my high school's music department and wouldn't have felt even a little bit out of place. This is probably my favourite ever Meryl Streep performance. From an unknown supporting cast, Angela Basset is stunningly effective as Janet, a Harlem principal holding a school together with her bare hands.

The film essentially splits into two halves, with a ten year break in between. The first is Roberta's struggle to deal with the breakdown of her marriage and her desire to make the program work not to help the kids, but to make ends meet. But as the first act goes on, interactions with the kids show her how much the program means to them - even the troublemakers who give her flack but show up week after week in spite of everything. In the second half, ten years later than the first, Roberta's program is in jeopardy and she must fight to maintain it, because she has seen now how much good it can do.

The relationship between Roberta and the kids - especially Jade Yorker's DeSean and Victoria Gomez's Lucy - is beautiful and believable, even as she occasionally hits stumbling blocks associated with kids in Harlem - incidental murders, domestic violence and hostility from black parents. Screenwriter Pamela Gray does a terrific job avoiding the trappings of White Saviour but focusing more on how music helps children, regardless of who their teacher is.

Sometimes I felt that there were a few unnecessary subplots, such as Roberta's love life - both of her love interests fizzle out without much impact on the story. Other times, serious moments are swept over quickly, like when a father and daughter turn up to the concert announcing "they took the car and violin", which is quickly ignored. But I watched this film with a smile on my face the whole way through - just as the proud parents beamed at their underprivileged children performing beautiful music on stage. I would never have though to find such a feel-good movie in the filmography of a great horror director, but it just goes to show that just like music in the hearts of Harlem, you should never judge a book by its cover.

Music of the Heart is pretty predictable. If you've seen Goodbye Mr. Chips, To Sir With Love, Educating Rita, Dead Poet's Society, Dangerous Minds, and/or Mr. Holland's Opus you pretty much know what to expect. What is a little unexpected is that this inspirational and moving film is directed by screammeister Wes Craven (Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc., etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseum).

Even though the story has been told before this is based on the true story of a woman struggling to teach violin in East Harlem. Meryl Streep plays Roberta, a mother with two children, who has been deserted by her husband. A friend encourages her to apply for this teaching job and the rest of the story is fairly predictable.

In spite of its predictability, the film has some very touching moments and is truly inspirational. Meryl Streep at her worst is better than most actors at their best, and Streep is excellent in this role. Add a great supporting cast that includes Angela Bassett, Gloria Estefan, Cloris Leachman and Aidan Quinn, and you have a well-told story with a tried and true theme. Technically, Run, Lola, Run is the more innovative film, but there is a message in Music of the Heart that rings true and inspires. I thought of Bob Briner as I watched this film. Bob's message of roaring lambs is consistent with the theme of Music of the Heart. We should spend less time cursing the darkness, and more time lighting candles. We waste too much time lamenting the emptiness and void of a postmodern world. The message of Music of the Heart is that instead of lamenting the silence, we should burst forth in song.

Meryl Streep was made for the part of Roberta Guaspari, a woman who is convinced she can teach ghetto chidren to play the violin, one of the most difficult of all instruments to learn. Against all odds, she perseveres to convince the parents of the valuable lessons that can be learned through music. If you liked Mr. Holland's Opus, chances are that you will love Music of the Heart. Meryl Streep makes this movie work although she gets some acting help from Aidan Quinn, Angela Bassett and Cloris Leachman. Even though it is a little overly dramatic at times, it still touches you with its message and its spirit.

Roberta Guaspari (Meryl Streep) and her two kids move back home with her mom Assunta (Cloris Leachman) after her husband run off with her friend. She never made it as a concert violinist and teach sparingly as she is pulled around the world by her navy husband. An old friend Brian Turner (Aidan Quinn) directs her to Principal Janet Williams (Angela Bassett) who reluctantly hires her as a substitute music teacher in the East Harlem inner city school. All the teachers hate her except Isabel Vasquez (Gloria Estefan).

It's a pretty traditional biopic by director Wes Craven who usually does horror. It's not a particularly original true story but it's an effective one. The most impressive thing in this is Meryl Streep. She holds the movie together. There are all the classic hurdles like the intransigent teachers, poverty, angry parents, violent neighborhood, and tough luck kids. Through it all, Streep works her butt off pulling the right heartstrings.

MUSIC OF THE HEART, in my opinion, is an outstanding biopic about one of the bravest teachers of all time. The performances were smashing, the soundtrack was great, and the casting was just right. Anyway, if you ask me, it was brave of Roberta (Meryl Streep) to take a stand to keep the music program in all Harlem schools. I would probably take a stand myself if I were in her shoes. In conclusion, if you are a die-hard fan of Meryl Streep, Gloria Estefan, or Angela Bassett, I heartily recommend this outstanding biopic about one of the bravest teachers of all time. You're in for a real treat and a good time, so don't miss this one.

Welcome back to another edition of Adam's Reviews!! **queue in intro music**

Today's movie review is the biographical feel good drama Music of the Heart (1999) where the queen herself Meryl Streep plays real life music teacher Roberta Gaspari. Roberta is a single mother of two who moves to the problem-ridden neighborhood of East Harlem as she needs a job and wants to give young kids in the school and community hope through violin. At the start we see her obstacles whether it be her early years fighting through office politics or her yearning to be with a man who is 100% committed to a relationship. After ten years of teaching, the school decides to cancel her class due to cuts around funding. With the support of her friends, her past students and the community, Roberta arranges a fundraiser concert in order to save the program and help ensure its survival for the next several years.

The movie at the start felt very soapy like your mid-afternoon television movies, however Streep does well to navigate this into a drama film. The story of this lady is inspirational and outlines racial tensions, how music can be understood by all people regardless of their physical condition and unifies a community. Surprisingly this film was directed by horror kind director Wes Craven - he does really well with the flow of the story and capturing the impacts the violin classes have on the children, parents and Roberta. Craven does well to pick up the important scenes including how a teacher needs to handle young students who challenge her authority through tough love, discipline and the sheer force of her own determination. And you start seeing how the kids slowly change either from building self-confidence and slowly winning the respect of their skeptical parents. Streep does well to also highlight her character's insecurity and vulnerability around the loss she experienced. The transformation from that vulnerable character to a person who finds her inner strength to push on and work on with her life was great to see. The violin scene throughout in the movie from the practices in class to the epic concert at Carnegie Hall looked real and natural.

Bonus for you movie goers who like to watch the end credits for every movie - there will be a soundtrack treat for you N*Sync and Gloria Estefan fans, just listen to the credits😉. Overall, the flick is a feel-good story and great to see how people can make a difference to help out the children and the community - 6.7/10

Can you picture this odd couple: Meryl Streep stars in a Wes Craven movie? Seems like a joke at first, but it really isn't. "Music of the Heart" is the second film that horror director Wes Craven has made and surpasses his first non-horror film, "Vampire in Brooklyn".

It based on the life of Roberta Guaspari (Streep), a violin teacher who moves to East Harlem with her two sons after her husband left her for another woman. Roberta starts a program of her own, teaching young kids how to play the violin. One mother of one of her students describes it as "dead white man music", but Roberta uses the late Arthur Ashe, who was black and a great tennis player as a great example. In another scene, the mother tells Roberta that she was right.

Ten years later, Roberta has taught over a thousand children how to play the violin and some of her former students have either gone onto college or become violinists. A problem surfaces, the superintendent and board of education have made budget cuts. Roberta is told by Janet Williams (Angela Bassett), the princpal that the music program has been cut.

So Roberta vows to keep the program alive and gets the idea of having a benefit concert. She gets help from some of her friends and some parents to help promote the concert and the place where it'll be held. Bad news, the first place where the concert is going to be held in has a flood. The only other place that is mentioned is Carnegie Hall in Philadelphia.

The concert scene is one of the best scenes in the movie. Some of Roberta's first students come back to join some of current her pupils. Also, some of the best-known violinists in the world have come as well, Issac Stern, Mark O'Connor, Arnold Steinhardt, and Itzhak Perlman are among them. Watching O'Connor play was fun to see. I admit that is the concert is memorable and great to watch as the one put up in "The Blues Brothers".

The emotional energy in this film never lets down at one moment. Bassett, Quinn, and Jay O. Sanders are good in their supporting roles. The movie is great and it stays with the story. Wes Craven deserved an Oscar nomination for Best Director and Streep is great.

First, I want to say, that Meryl Streep really is the best actress I know. But 'Music of the heart' was surly not as good as 'Sophies choice' or 'The bridges of Madison County'. Of course the film was nice, but the story was not very surprising and I hate this touch of Hollywood, which this film has. All in all he was quite nice.

I happened to be clicking through the channels & this was on. I was instantly hooked mainly because of Meryl (I had heard so much about her). She's so great in this movie. I cried when she cried & I actually felt myself drawn in. Incredible. I could watch this a million times & never tire of it. It is an absolute gem! so you know, Meryl Streep is one of my favourites now!(I can't believe she didn't win!!) The music was great to listen to (The real life musicians were a real bonus)& now I wish I could play the violin! This movie has had a powerful impact on me mainly because I knew it was a true story. If you are looking for a movie about real-life issues you can watch with all your family or alone this is highly recommended. If only Hollywood made more movies like this one.

One expects a movie with an inspirational message, a cast containing two Academy Award winning actresses (Meryl Streep, Cloris Leachman) and a best actress nominee(Angela Bassett) to be something more than a series of `Hallmarck moments'. You know you are in trouble when a scene opens with the caption `Ten Years Later' and NONE of the female characters has aged. I expected some inventiveness from `horror' director Wes Craven; instead, I get `paint by the numbers.' Craven's only inventiveness occurs in a subplot left on the `cutting room floor' involving Streep recovering her youngest son's bicycle. At one point in the movie, Aidan Quinn says to Streep, `You know half of all marriages end in misery and divorce.' `Wrong,' I responded, `Half end in misery, the other half in divorce.' Was does it say about a movie's dialogue when your own wiseacre adlib is better than anything you heard in the film?

See this one for the music and the inspiration. There's simply not that much else to offer.

Music of my Heart reminds me of the old Judy Garland - Mickey Rooney films - Let's Put On a Show! I would watch Streep in anything, but that doesn't mean she always shows good sense in her selection of films. In particular, this one was a dud - a manipulative, predictable, with-almost-no-redeeming-factor-dud!

I must confess that I approached `Music of the Heart' with a great deal of fear and trepidation. I really had no desire to subject myself to what I envisioned to be a 124-minute barrage of inspirational life messages and feel-good sentimentality. What a pleasant surprise then to discover this to be a genuinely moving and heartwarming true-life tale of an extraordinary teacher, Roberta Gaspari, and her equally extraordinary students.

In plot, `Music of the Heart' doesn't deviate much from the standard formula common to such films. We have, first, the neophyte white middle class schoolteacher, plunged into the heart of a problem-ridden inner city Harlem school, filled with burnt-out teachers who have learned to expect little (and thereby garner little) from the youngsters placed in their charge and children themselves whose troubled home lives provide little in the way of a nurturing environment for academic achievement. We encounter the predictable first-day stumbles of this headstrong, idealistic newcomer as the students challenge her authority and the relevance of her violin class in no uncertain terms; we see how, through discipline and the sheer force of her own determination, she eventually connects them to the music they are learning to play, building their self-confidence and slowly winning the respect of their often skeptical, and, occasionally, downright hostile parents in the process. Then comes the great challenge, as the school board, after ten successful years in which the program has earned a sizable reputation and even been featured in magazine articles, pulls the plug on the funding. Thanks to the sheer determination of Gaspari, the parents whose children's lives have been forever altered, a magazine writer and the voluntary participation of a number of the world's premiere violinists (a large number of whom appear as themselves in the film), the group stages an amazing fundraising concert at Carnegie Hall, the proceeds from which save the program and help ensure its survival for the next several years.

One of the chief reasons that `Music of the Heart' does not dissolve (as it so easily might have) into a puddle of goopy tears lies in the matter-of-fact interpretation of the main character that both writer, Pamela Gray, and actress, Meryl Streep, bring to bear on the role. At no time is Roberta ever portrayed as a saintly figure. In fact, she is a woman filled with all sorts of insecurities and vulnerabilities, exacerbated by the devastating sense of bewilderment and loss caused by the unexpected termination of her marriage and her seeming need to be dependent on a man for comfort, support and a sense of purpose. She is often overbearing, pushy and pigheaded and not just in the classroom where it counts, but also in her personal life where it often alienates her from the ones she loves most. Yet, somehow out of this mass of self-doubts and personal missteps, she finds the inner strength and emotional wherewithal to work miracles. Streep throws herself so completely into the role that we cannot take our eyes off her for a single one of the film's 120 enthralling minutes (and I doubt that she is ever off screen for more than a few seconds in the entire film). It is a truly glowing performance.

Equally impressive, director Wes Craven is to be highly commended for drawing such an impressive array of credible, down-to-earth performances from a large cast of outstanding preteen actors. Thanks to them and an air of naturalism in the dialogue, the scenes between the youngsters and their teacher always ring true and believable.

I defy anyone - even the most tone deaf, musically disinterested member of the audience - not to be deeply touched by the final scenes of this film. Craven, from all his years doing those slasher films I suppose, really knows how to generate a sense of suspense as we follow the pre-show behind-the-scenes preparations of the nail-biting participants. The recreated concert itself, with a number of the real life participants brought back to play for the occasion, is utterly engrossing and leaves the audience both rheumy-eyed and covered with goose bumps. Well, maybe "Music of the Heart" is, after all, filled with the `inspirational life messages' and `feel-good sentimentality' I so dreaded at the outset of the film. That being the case, I guess that isn't such a bad thing after all!

In the grand '90s genre of "white teacher helps inner city minority kids" came Music of the Heart, a true story about a passionate music teacher who taught beginner's violin lessons at an impoverished school in East Harlem. Meryl Streep turns this movie into one of the more memorable ones of the decade because, simply put, she's Meryl Streep. She's a wonderful actress, so no matter how corny the script is, she finds a way to make the audience shed a tear. In the supporting cast are Angela Bassett, Gloria Estefan, Cloris Leachman, Josh Pais, Kieran Culkin, and cute-pie Aidan Quinn as Meryl's love interest.

Music fans won't notice how Disney-esque this movie is. They'll love the message, and they'll love the cameos from famous violinists in the end of the movie. Teachers will also love the message, since it shows the impact a good teacher can have on students with nothing else in their lives. Children who have fond memories of a beloved teacher-let alone if that teacher taught them the arts-will love the movie. Who won't love it? People who don't like Meryl Streep; so, I guess, no one.

Music Of The Heart was a pleasant and interesting throwback to old Hollywood when they had no fear in making films about classical music and those who play it. Meryl Streep received one of her innumerable Best Actress Oscar nominations for playing Roberta Guaspari who creates and heads a program for inner city youth.

It's not that Streep has the most impressive of resumes when she applies for the job with Principal Angela Bassett. But music is not a big priority in school funding. But she happens to have purchased 50 violins from abroad for another of her projects. That kind of donation no principal can pass up so Streep gets the job.

The film divides neatly in half showing first Streep's early days in creating her violin class and then secondly trying to keep it alive during one of those perennial financial crisis that public education always seems to be having. In the tradition of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, what do we do but put on a show.

The film this really reminds of is a Samuel Goldwyn Production from the late Thirties titled They Shall Have Music. Gene Reynolds plays an inner city kid who also learns the violin and gets to appear with none other than Jascha Heifetz in a show.

Music Of The Heart sees your Heifetz with an Isaac Stern and raises with among others Itzhak Perlman and a number of classical artists who make guest appearances and support Streep and her program. The result, as this is a throwback film to old Hollywood need I tell you?

Streep has her personal problems as well, she was a Navy wife who has split from her husband and has two sons, both of whom she has raised to appreciate classical music. She gives all to her kids and her program and loses a few men who'd like to get something going with her, among them Aidan Quinn. She also moves into the East Harlem area where she teaches and truly enters the fabric of her pupil's lives.

She gets good support from a nicely chosen ensemble cast, but this film is truly the personal property of Meryl Streep and is joyously recommended to one and all who like classical music.

There is a lot of dramatic credibility attached to this film, which isn't warranted. Yes, Meryl Streep is the lead and she received an Oscar nomination for the role, but this film is less dramatic than much more soapy. This film falls into the sub-genre of "white woman saves inner city children" which also includes "Freedom Writers" and "Dangerous Minds," and overdone and quite manipulative genre that needs to be done away with. You will either find this true story enlightening and sweet hearted or overly dramatic, based on taste or being able to stomach racially motivated story lines. Though, in general, I find these kinds of films tedious and over the top, the last half hour did make me well up. Real life music teacher Roberta Guaspari is inspirational, and her story is at least treated with respect. It is also interesting to note this is the only film Wes Craven has directed that has nothing to do with horror or sci-fi, and for those unaware of his finesse, this is a great showcase of his talents. This is an entertaining film, if a little overdone in its execution.

Loved the film, so inspiring. Glad they picked Meryl, she really made the film. Well of course the kids did too. I'm glad to know the real kids were involved. What a great program for a lot of troubled kids. It takes a lot of courage to create a program like this, I'm sure the real teacher had her work cut out for her. God bless all of the teachers who are as devoted to helping kids as she was. It's a lesson for everyone how we can change people lives of other around us. I wasn't really expecting to like the film when it started. But it did take me long to go get my mom and share it with her. Kids, if directed can do amazing things! Sometime you have to give up (such as a romance) to get the job done. I recommend it highly!

this movie based on a true story Stars Meryl Streep as a music teacher who changes the lives of inner city students.it's in the same vein as Mr. Holland's Opus,but nowhere nears as good,in my mind.it lacks the depth and heart of that movie.it's also slow at times and those sweeping orchestral scores get to be too much after awhile. even though Streep is the headliner,i actually really liked Angela Basset.i though she was terrific.Aidan Quinn is also very good,in a small role.though i was disappointed in the movie,it still has it moments of inspiration,and is worth watching.it's just no masterpiece.it's directed by Wes Craven(The Nightmare on Elm Street series).for me,Music of the Heart is a 6/10

... is this film worth anything. Ms Streep's understated performance, of course, is brilliant. The rest of the film is a waste of time. The story of a suburban, ex-navy wife putting together a violin chorus because she "needs a job" is hard to believe. I know, I know, this is based on a true story but it rambles on like predictable, made-for-tv schlock. Certainly the real story has to be more compelling than this film.

The only reason to see this movie is, of course, Meryl Streep!

Once again, this movie has convinced me that there is not one living actress that can come close to Streep in the art of acting. If you have seen her other movies, you will know how versatile she is in the roles she has played. The theme of this movie is not unique and has been revisited....a well meaning teacher trying to make a difference in the lives of inner city Harlem kids in the face of great odds. But it is Streep's performance that has made this movie another enthralling story telling experience for me. I give Meryl a standing ovation.

A feel-good,inspiring movie that will surely entertain in a gentle and non-intrusive way. Watching Meryl Streep perform is always a pleasure. To see a "mid-life" actress given an intelligent role (this is one of a number of enjoyable Streep films out in the last few years) is quite encouraging since so many of the stars (female) I grew up with (70's & 80's)have disappeared into obscurity. This movie appealed to my sensibilities: I am becoming a bit of a cynic as I grow older and this movie is a solid reminder that there are caring, loving souls that populate our great planet who are willing to put their heart and soul into following and accomplishing their passions while leaving their indelible mark along the way!! The film inspired me enough to further my knowledge of the teacher the story is based on--- PS If you have a surround sound theater set-up at home it will add a rich dimension to the experience; you will certainly appreciate the music/soundtrack in the film.

Listening to interviews with Wes Craven, he says explicitly, more than once, that he never wanted to be pigeonholed as a horror filmmaker. His primary interest was comedy, actually, and you can see him approach it here and there in his earlier years and especially in the years after A Nightmare on Elm Street when he got the smallest bit of freedom. Well, he got some freedom after the financial successes of the first two Scream films and, in combination with finishing out a contract with Miramax, he decided to tell the real life story of a violin instructor in Harlem who worked with the poor children of the school systems there. It's a generic, acceptable attempt at a tearjerker that hits no notes particularly well, but functions in a workmanlike way.

Working from a script by Pamela Gray based on a documentary about the real woman, the story follows Roberta Guaspari (Meryl Streep) from her separation and divorce from her Naval officer husband through her creation of the program in an effort to find any job and eventually to her efforts to save the program ten years in when the budget gets cut. It ends up being a very paint by numbers kind of film that tries to capture as much of Roberta's life over that ten years as possible with no real effort to highlight any particular relationship or aspect of her life. Things just kind of come and go, enter and leave her story, whether they feed the actual story or not. I was kind of looking forward to this film, equating it to a certain extent to The Straight Story, the David Lynch film that sticks out from his filmography so much because it is so materially different from the rest while also being one of his best films. Music of the Heart could have been similar, except that Craven seems to have brought nothing to the table beyond his technical competence.

After a short stint living with her mother (Cloris Leachman), Roberta uses the contact of an old school friend who lives in the city Brian (Aidan Quinn) to meet with Janet Williams (Angela Bassett), a principal in one of the city's schools. Through demonstration of her ability to teach by carting in her two children to play in her office, she gets a job as a substitute teacher and has the typical troubles one would expect from an unruly class of ten-year-old children given violins. She whittles it down to about half the original size, and they develop. She has typical issues with parents who don't believe in violins for minority children because there are no minority violinists (the finale includes a couple, and the movie makes no note of the irony), or they're too busy, or whatever. They're all challenges that Roberta overcomes with the power of belief and music. Standard stuff.

Then the time jump happens after the first successful concert to ten years later. All of the children are gone. Her own two children get recast, and the challenges are new. It becomes about saving the program through organizing a concert to raise funds, and it's more of the same kind of challenges that Roberta is able to overcome with the power of belief and music. First it's getting the kids and parents to sign onto the rigorous practice schedule. Then it's getting the right location. In the middle of this, her kids try to set her up with a man, Dan (Jay O. Sanders), and that goes nowhere.

One of the curious things about the film is the assumption that people know the names of the great violinists of the 90s. A couple of the names were familiar to me, but not because they were tied to the violin in any way. And yet, they get name dropped and people just react in glee at the idea of receiving help, as though the audience is already in on it. There's a big concert at Carnegie Hall, there's a lot of swelling music on the soundtrack as belief and music triumphed, and we get still photos alongside the credits, not of the real Roberta and her students but of Meryl Streep as Roberta and the actor students. Seriously...that's where you put the real Roberta front and center.

A quick note on Craven's filmmaking. I'm not exactly the biggest fan, but there's a particular shot late in the film that points, to me, to Craven's continued troubles with figuring out how the whole cinema thing works. It's a small shot that really doesn't matter that much, but I want to highlight it. As the concert is warming up, we get a series of shots of the crowd. One of them has three people in the frame. To the left is Angela Bassett, to the right is Gloria Estefan as one of the teachers at the school that Roberta had befriended, and in the middle is a teenaged girl we've never seen before. Where does the eye go first? To the teenage girl. This is actually the teenaged daughter of Estefan's character who had gone through Roberta's program (though we never even saw her as a small child, much less in the later form as a teenager). Outside of the context of sitting next to Estefan in the frame, we would have no idea who this person is, and she is where the eye is drawn first in the frame. It feels like a very basic test of how to place subjects in a frame that Craven, almost twenty-five years into his career, fails at.

Anyway, the film is fine. It's okay. It's not bad, and it's not particularly good. Streep is good in the role that anchors a lot of it, but the storytelling is so fractured across time and subplots that there's no real digging into anything to can provide emotional catharsis by the end. It's really the sort of end product I might expect from a television director making one of their first efforts into feature films, and I think it demonstrates some of Wes Craven's major limits on his abilities. He had visions of doing more than horror, but horror was where his ability seems to have fit best.