Music Within

Comedy, Drama, Biography
USA  /  English

This film is autobiographical. It is based on the story of Richard Pimental (Ron Livingston), who had a serious hand in helping create the Americans With Disabilities Act. It starts off telling the tale of Richard as a young man with a talent for speaking in public. He has a mentor, who is named Dr. Padro (Hector Elizondo), but when Richard tries out for College Bowl, Padro tells him to live a full life because he has nothing important to say. After hearing this, Richard enlists in the military. He does this because he agrees. It is in the military where Pimental goes is permanently disabled in Vietnam. He is discharged and pretty much told by everyone in the world that he will now never amount to anything because he is disabled. He decides to prove them wrong, and to prove them wrong about ALL disabled people. And to help disabled people see that they can make something of themselves. He makes friends with Art Honeyman (Michael Sheen), who swears a lot and has cerebral palsy, Christine (Melissa George) who becomes his girlfriend, and Mike (Yul Vasquez), who is an alcoholic. With their help, he starts to make things a lot better for the disabled.