Overview
Music From Another Room is a romantic comedy that follows the exploits of Danny, a young man who grew up believing he was destined to marry the girl he helped deliver as a five year old boy when his neighbor went into emergency labor. Twenty-five years later, Danny returns to his hometown and finds the irresistible Anna Swann but she finds it easy to resist him since she is already engaged to dreamboat Eric, a very practical match. In pursuit of Anna, Danny finds himself entangled with each of the eccentric Swanns including blind, sheltered Nina, cynical sister Karen, big brother Bill and dramatic mother Grace as he fights to prove that fate should never be messed with and passion should never be practical.
Before watching this movie, I saw a blurb from one of the reviews: “A gifted cast is assembled, and they chose to do very little with them.” While that might be a bit harsh, I think there’s some truth to it. From the opening scene, you pretty much know how the movie is going to unfold. While the payoff was good, everything in the middle was a mixed bag like I’ve never seen before.
The movie seemed to skip genres from one scene to the next. One scene completely reminded me of screwball comedies like “Airplane!”, and the next felt like an after-school special. Whether this was deliberate, it gave the film a rather schizophrenic feel that seemed unnecessary. The best example of this is the sappy music playing in many scenes, followed by comic relief in the next. Some of it really worked, but much of it didn’t.
It seems as though the director knew he had the undeniable cuteness of the two leads and could always fall back on that. I really do think there was a better movie in here if they had leaned more into one of the genres. If it were me, I would have leaned harder into the fantastic comic performances by Jennifer Tilley and Jane Adams. Ultimately, the movie felt more like a made-for-TV movie than an indie romcom.
IHATEBadMovies.com reviews Music from Another Room
Movie title: Music from Another Room
Movie description: Music From Another Room is a romantic comedy that follows the exploits of Danny, a young man who grew up believing he was destined to marry the girl he helped deliver as a five year old boy when his neighbor went into emergency labor. Twenty-five years later, Danny returns to his hometown and finds the irresistible Anna Swann but she finds it easy to resist him since she is already engaged to dreamboat Eric, a very practical match. In pursuit of Anna, Danny finds himself entangled with each of the eccentric Swanns including blind, sheltered Nina, cynical sister Karen, big brother Bill and dramatic mother Grace as he fights to prove that fate should never be messed with and passion should never be practical.
Date published: 2025-01-17
Director(s): Charlie Peters
Actor(s): Jude Law, Jennifer Tilly, Gretchen Mol, Martha Plimpton, Brenda Blethyn, Jon Tenney, Jeremy Piven, Vincent Laresca, Jane Adams, Bruce Jarchow, Kevin Kilner, Jan Rubeš, Judith Malina, Hillary Matthews, Caitlin Sarah Needham, Jon Polito, Tony Abatemarco, Joseph Pilato, Ann Shea, Kari Leigh Floyd, Rainey Taylor, Martha Hackett, Margarita O'Quendo, Wanda-Lee Evans, Frank Lugo, Gregg Almquist, Brumby Broussard, Evie Peck, Lee Weaver, Cory Buck, Sara Paxton, David Carpenter, Barbara Howard, Cynthia Mace, Don Pugsley, Thomas Rosales Jr., Mel Green, Richard Ruccolo, Al Berman, Fred Sanders, Daniel Passer, Jennifer Christopher, Paula J. Newman, Dana Edwards, Tria Katz, Jane L. Moore
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
My Review
Before watching this movie, I saw a blurb from one of the reviews: “A gifted cast is assembled, and they chose to do very little with them.” While that might be a bit harsh, I think there’s some truth to it. From the opening scene, you pretty much know how the movie is going to unfold. While the payoff was good, everything in the middle was a mixed bag like I’ve never seen before.
The movie seemed to skip genres from one scene to the next. One scene completely reminded me of screwball comedies like “Airplane!”, and the next felt like an after-school special. Whether this was deliberate, it gave the film a rather schizophrenic feel that seemed unnecessary. The best example of this is the sappy music playing in many scenes, followed by comic relief in the next. Some of it really worked, but much of it didn’t.
It seems as though the director knew he had the undeniable cuteness of the two leads and could always fall back on that. I really do think there was a better movie in here if they had leaned more into one of the genres. If it were me, I would have leaned harder into the fantastic comic performances by Jennifer Tilley and Jane Adams. Ultimately, the movie felt more like a made-for-TV movie than an indie romcom.
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My Review - 6/10
6/10