 How does the author feel about Music of the Heart?
A view of nature that some would call "tree-hugging" doesn't feel softheaded when the trees are rendered in such brilliant and robust detail. He's both inside and outside the action: He knows when to rock your world and when to induce a state of sorrowful detachment. The movie has a scope that makes Hollywood's homiletic, follow-your-dream fables look even more solipsistic. It's the beginning of what Bill McKibben called "the end of nature"--that is, when nature became no longer an autonomous, self-regulating force but one touched (and, in Miyazaki's view, poisoned) by human industry.
 The director missed his chance to make a great film by making safe choices.
 The film had lots of areas that could've been improved.  The director missed his chance to make a great film by making safe choices.  The film is not going to be nominated for an Academy Award.  There is not enough footage of the students learning their instruments.