Film's message is loud and clear

There was a lot of hard luck in Richard Pimentel's life -- a loony mom, a dad killed in a soy sauce mishap, a tour in Vietnam that left him mostly deaf, a bohemian girlfriend who didn't dig the whole monogamy trip -- but the biography "Music Within" is awfully pleasant anyway. It's a project made with affection and dedication, and a fair degree of skill, by director Steven Sawalich, who has known Pimentel for years.

Ron Livingston ("Office Space") plays Pimentel with great charm, meeting every challenge with spunk and good humor. A hot dog public speaker even in grade school, Pimentel was counting on his glib skills for a college scholarship, only to be turned away by an avuncular professor (Hector Elizondo) who told him he should earn the right to an opinion. He returns to school with a wealth of battlefield experience and two bum eardrums. When he befriends Art Honeyman (Michael Sheen, who played Tony Blair in "The Queen"), who uses a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy, you may be afraid you'll be embarrassed by an attack of sentimentality. But their relationship is agreeably combative and free from condescension; they're just a couple of smart-aleck loudmouths.

As Pimentel moves into his successful postcollege years and begins turning his attentions to advocacy for the disabled, the film finds much of its dramatic tension in his rocky relationship with his free-loving girlfriend. Christine (Melissa George, "30 Days of Night") seems to be on hand to remind us that some people carry their handicaps on the inside.

Livingston, who's 40, looks too old to play Richard in his youth, but otherwise his performance is solid. He's an appealing everyman who's what we hope to be in our best moments, when we gather up our gumption, speak out and take action to repair life's wrongs. He makes the story of the guy responsible for putting wheelchair ramps on pancake houses surprisingly engaging.

Colin Covert • 612-673-7186

Colin Covertrating: R For Language Including Sexual References, and Some Drug content. • ccovert@startribune.com