Shine

Bad publicity over David Helfgott's musically painful concert tour aside, Australian director Scott Hicks' autobiographical account of Helfgott's semi-abusive childhood--driven by a dictatorial father (Armin Mueller-Stahl)--and his later psychological crash under the musical mountain non-affectionately known as the "Rach 3" (kind of like the Alien of classical music) still strikes a deep resonant chord as a powerful human drama. Much of the credit belongs to the outstanding performances of Noah Taylor as the young David and Geoffrey Rush's Oscar-winning turn as the elder Helfgott. Of the Best Picture nominees, Shine would have been my choice, hands down. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)