The Music Never Stopped: The long-lost son (Lou Taylor Pucci) of a middle-aged couple (J.K. Simmons, Cara Seymour) turns up mentally impaired, and a therapist (Julia Ormond) discovers that the 1960s music of his youth snaps him into his old self. Based on an Oliver Sacks essay, this film has poignant, funny things to say about music's strange power.
- Kenneth Burns
Soul Surfer: AnnaSophia Robb plays the real-life Bethany Hamilton, a teenager with a promising future as a professional surfer who lost an arm during a shark attack. It's a formulaic, Christian-oriented story, but director Sean McNamara tells it with efficiency and restraint.
- Scott Renshaw