Shine (1996)

Academy Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
1997	Won	Oscar	Best Actor in a Leading Role Geoffrey Rush
	Nominated	Oscar	Best Actor in a Supporting Role Armin Mueller-Stahl
			Best Director Scott Hicks
			Best Film Editing Pip Karmel
			Best Music, Original Dramatic Score David Hirschfelder
			Best Picture Jane Scott
			Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Jan Sardi (screenplay) Scott Hicks (story)

Fine Line Features
Directed by Scott Hicks
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Encore)

A child prodigy is driven by his overprotective father to become a pianist. However, when he gets accepted to a prestigious London music college, the father beats him to a pulp and refuses to ever see him again. In London, he is trained for a big competition where he is to perform the demanding "Rach 3", a piece by Rachmaninoff. He pulls it off, wins the competition but collapses in a nervous breakdown. He spends most of his adult life in psychiatric care, until he gets a gig playing in a local bar, leading to his redemption. Geoffrey Rush's performance has been universally lauded, but I thought it was a bit self-conscious, and resembled more of an impersonation than a true acting performance. Lost in all the accolades for Rush were the performances of Noah Taylor as a teenager in London and especially Armin Mueller-Stahl as his father, both just as good, if not better, than Rush.