The Oscar winning Geoffrey Rush doesn't show up until 69 minutes of this less than two hour film, but he went home with the Best Actor Award anyway, so brilliant in his 40:minutes on screen that along with Anthony Hopkins in "Silence of the Lambs", he makes you feel like he's been there all along. Rush is the third actor in the role of David Helfgott, following the very young Alex Rafalowicz and teen Noah Taylor, and the flow of the change is brilliant. Armin Mueller-Stahl, who shined as the patriarch in the brilliant "Avalon", is a conflict of emotion as David's father, at one moment loving then demanding then his biggest champion, and out of the blue, violently cruel. His love for his son is undeniable but often possessive and scary. When first seen, young David makes a huge impression, and as a teenager, even attracts the attention of Isaac Stern and a patron of the arts played by veteran British leading lady Googie Withers. A touching scene has Withers giving Taylor the gloves she bought for her late son, just one of the many moving moments in the film.
The buildup of David's breakdown (after a very violent scene where his father beats him for alleged defiance and betrayal) is heartbreaking to watch, and Taylor is as award worthy as Rush was, but when you've got Armin Mueller-Stahl and John Gielgud (heartwarming in one of his last films), someone's going to slip through the cracks. Lynn Redgrave adds another sweet characterization to her dozens as the charming widow the older David marries, childlike in his adult age, but fully serious as he tickles out gorgeous melodies on the best friend and most notorious enemy he's ever had, yet one he could never bear to be without.
The buildup of David's breakdown (after a very violent scene where his father beats him for alleged defiance and betrayal) is heartbreaking to watch, and Taylor is as award worthy as Rush was, but when you've got Armin Mueller-Stahl and John Gielgud (heartwarming in one of his last films), someone's going to slip through the cracks. Lynn Redgrave adds another sweet characterization to her dozens as the charming widow the older David marries, childlike in his adult age, but fully serious as he tickles out gorgeous melodies on the best friend and most notorious enemy he's ever had, yet one he could never bear to be without.