Apart from the fact that I didn't really care for a lot of Jari's playing, I enjoyed this movie quite a lot. Jones' performance, as you might expect, was magnificent. Ball and the other actors did a good job, and the production values were generally good.
I think in order to really appreciate the story, though, you have to be the type of musician that Leo is; the kind that just can't imagine not expressing themselves through music. It's not something you do, it's just who you are. Many fine musicians learn to put themselves into their music. But for someone like Leo, it couldn't be any other way.
Interestingly, this is the one thing I would fault the story on -- Jari isn't that kind of musician. He sometimes talks like he is, and Carla seems to think he is, but I just don't feel it from him.
That's a minor consideration, though; overall I liked the movie quite well.
I think in order to really appreciate the story, though, you have to be the type of musician that Leo is; the kind that just can't imagine not expressing themselves through music. It's not something you do, it's just who you are. Many fine musicians learn to put themselves into their music. But for someone like Leo, it couldn't be any other way.
Interestingly, this is the one thing I would fault the story on -- Jari isn't that kind of musician. He sometimes talks like he is, and Carla seems to think he is, but I just don't feel it from him.
That's a minor consideration, though; overall I liked the movie quite well.