Shine . Tucson Weekly . 01-23-97

Shine

DIRECTED BY: Scott Hicks

REVIEWED: 01-23-97

A wonderful, uplifting movie about a child prodigy who is damaged, then saved, by his art. Based on the true life of pianist David Helfgott, Shine weaves together scenes from his extremely lousy childhood and his very eccentric adulthood. Geoffrey Rush is terrific as Helfgott, a man who's a mass of neurotic habits and annoying tics, but who can create beautiful music as well. Occasionally director Scott Hicks is a little too direct in his method--you can see certain events coming miles off, and he occasionally veers into the forbidden realm of sentimentality--but on the whole Shine is visually unusual and fresh.

--Stacey Richter

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Shine

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Shine

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