REVIEW: ‘Música’ is Unlike Any Coming of Age Story You’ve Seen Before
Rudy Mancuso makes his directorial debut in Prime Video’s new romantic comedy, Música. The movie follows Rudy (Mancuso), a soon-to-be college graduate, who has some tough decisions to make regarding his future. Does he find a place in New York City with his longtime girlfriend, Haley, (Francesca Reale), and work a lifeless marketing job for the rest of his life or pursue his passion of puppeteering? If his mother (Maria Mancuso) had her way, he would open a music studio right next to her beauty salon and marry a nice Brazilian girl. But Rudy is unsure which path he intends to take. That is until Isabella (Camila Mendes) comes into his life. A live by the moment type of girl, Isabella accepts Rudy’s love of puppeteering, but also accepts his inability to stay focused in conversations. It’s not because he doesn’t want to focus, it is because Rudy has synesthesia. Rudy has the ability to experience multiple senses at one time, which allows him to see shapes and hear rhythm when he hears sounds. As the movie progresses, Rudy must finally decide what he wants to do with his life, and who he wants in his life.
Música is unlike any other romance movie out there as the romance is not the focal point of the story. The focal point of the story is what Rudy is going to do with the rest of his life. The love story plays only a minor part, which disappointed me. Mancuso and Mendes have such great chemistry together. Their characters’ meet cute scene was the perfect kick-off point for the two characters, but Mancuso doesn’t lean into the build. If he had spent just 15 more minutes focusing on building the chemistry between these two characters, I think I would have liked the movie more than I did.
That’s not to say I didn’t like the movie. It was engaging, but it shouldn’t be described as a romance. In actuality, the movie is a coming-of-age story. Heavily inspired by Mancuso’s real-life, Mancuso uses his Brazilian culture and his own experience with synesthesia to create a new coming of age story unlike anything we’ve seen before. I was a little confused by the synesthesia storyline because it is not fully explained in the movie, but after a little research the story made a whole lot more sense.
Mancuso had all the right pieces to make a really fun movie; he just needed more time to flesh them out. This is especially noticeable in the last act of the movie. The overall ending made complete sense, but it was extremely rushed, leaving me feeling a little underwhelmed when all was said and done. If you are looking for a spin on the coming-of-age story, Música is for you. The soundtrack of this movie is fantastic, and the acting is really good. This movie, once again, proves that Mendes belongs in romance movies, even though she plays a smaller role than I had hoped.
Grade: B