Word: guaspari
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...Meryl Streep, Angela Bassett, and Gloria Estefan (yup, the singer) star in Wes Craven's newest film, based on the documentary Small Wonders--the account of Roberta Guaspari, a single mother who moves to East Harlem to teach the violin to underprivileged children. Even though the film moves a bit slowly at the beginning where Roberta's personal life is the dominant plot-line, Meryl Streep is (as always) refreshing in her portrayal of Guaspari and compensates for the slow start. Streep's characterization of the man-dependent and recently divorced Navy wife is humorous and real...
...great acting is rounded out by Angela Bassett who plays Janet Reeves, the stubborn high school principal. Bassett is loud and emotional in her portrayal--the determination of her character shines right through. Moreover, Bassett and Streep complement each other well during many pivotal moments in the movie. When Guaspari's funding for the music program is cut and Reeves is unable to save it despite exhausting her efforts, the angry exchange between Streep and Bassett conveys the helplessness and frustration that many educators surely feel toward the politics of the education system. I was sold...
...their own instrument. Streep had never played any musical instrument before, but after two months of lessons, she jumped into classroom scenes that required her to simultaneously play and instruct students. More than half of the 150 children who appeared in the film have studied with the real Roberta Guaspari. Most have never acted. If Craven was aiming for reality, then he surely...
...climactic "Fiddlefest" scene where Guaspari's students give a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall in aims of saving their program, I was overwhelmed with the energy and excitement I felt alongside the characters. I was so involved with the characters, that by the end of the concert, I wanted to stand up and cheer. I didn't. But I wanted to (and the last thing that made me stand up and cheer, remember, were the Backstreet Boys...
Time is running out. The annual concert is tomorrow, and Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras is whipping herself and her second- and third-grade violinists through a frenzied rehearsal. "When I bow, you bow!" she barks. "I don't want to tell you to watch...
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