 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. 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. Gillian Anderson's growling Moro sounds silly (she doesn't have the breath control), and the fey-hick tones of Billy Bob Thornton are too recognizable as the Akim Tamiroff-like mercenary, Jigo.
 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.