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Alive Inside

Name: Alive Inside
Genre: Documentary, News
Released: July 18, 2014
Duration: 78 min
Rating: 67

2014

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critics

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Ratings

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7.8

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7.8	Your Score
7.8	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Ratings

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ALIVE INSIDE

Movie Details & Credits

Ximotion Media | Release Date: July 18, 2014 | Not Rated

Summary: Alive Inside investigates the power music has to awaken deeply locked memories. The film follows Dan Cohen, a social worker, who decides on a whim to bring iPods to a nursing home. To his and the staff's surprise many residents suffering from memory loss and Alzheimer's Disease seem to "awaken" when they are able to listen to music fromAlive Inside investigates the power music has to awaken deeply locked memories. The film follows Dan Cohen, a social worker, who decides on a whim to bring iPods to a nursing home. To his and the staff's surprise many residents suffering from memory loss and Alzheimer's Disease seem to "awaken" when they are able to listen to music from their past. With great excitement, Dan turns to renowned neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks, and we follow them both as we investigate the mysterious way music functions inside our brains and our lives.… Expand

Director: Michael Rossato-Bennett

Genre(s): Documentary, News

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 78 min

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Awards & Rankings

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Critic Reviews

100

The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge

Jan 27, 2014

A gloriously inspirational film documenting music’s healing power in Alzheimer patients. Read full review

Village Voice Nick Schager

Jul 15, 2014

Practically guaranteed to elicit tears within its first five minutes, Alive Inside... is nonetheless more than just a tearjerker. Read full review

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Jul 31, 2014

As much a plea to change the system as it is an examination of how music helps individuals, Alive Inside is not the most sophisticated documentary, but its power is indisputable, and it does end on a hopeful note. Read full review

Variety Rob Nelson

Jan 28, 2014

Rossato-Bennett’s over-the-top narration often sounds cloying and banal... But the filmmaker succeeds in providing context, medical and historical, in between awakenings. Read full review

Steve Greene

Jan 27, 2014

Whether it's purely through the use of music or through the individual, attentive care given by some of the featured nursing home workers, the proof of positive changes presented in "Alive Inside" provide a sense of idealism amid bleak situations. Read full review

Slant Magazine Nick McCarthy

Jul 17, 2014

The doc is heartwarming, but it doesn't delve deeply into the backstories that inform the ailing patients' connection to the music that stirs their memories. Read full review

Peter Keough

Jul 31, 2014

Unfortunately, though, Rossato-Bennett and Cohen seem to think that the technique is a panacea. In fact, it is not even original, as music therapy in nursing homes has been around for some time. Read full review

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User Reviews

TheDRauch

Jan 27, 2015

Though it amounts to little more than an amalgamation of sequences involving the power of music overcoming the degenerative effects of senility, these scenes do have an undeniably uplifting, human quality to them. Witnessing actual people, once nothing more than a dormant husk of their onceThough it amounts to little more than an amalgamation of sequences involving the power of music overcoming the degenerative effects of senility, these scenes do have an undeniably uplifting, human quality to them. Witnessing actual people, once nothing more than a dormant husk of their once vibrant selves, burst into moments of stunning clarity is truly heartwarming. Alive Inside fails to truly delve into the sciences of neural decay and how music plays a direct role in mending these gaps. It only provides a surface-level examination into the actual reason WHY this method of auditory stimulation seems to cause such an abrupt mental awakening. It is also regrettably brief, clocking in at less than 80-minutes, hindering the film's scope and making it's subject feel less urgent than it actually is. However, I would still say that Alive Inside makes a good name for it's cause and, at the very least, informs and educates about an issue that is tragically left neglected in most public arenas. Along with other 2014 Alzheimer's related dramas (Such as Still Alice, Wrinkles, among others) Alive Inside makes the case that a human being, regardless of how withered their mental capacity, still exists behind the veneer of a horrible disease that is out of their control. The proof lies in these few, bittersweet moments on display, and, I must say, I can't deny that their joy of cognitive recovery touched me deeply.… Expand

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