DRAMA ANALYSIS/RESEARCH ESSAY (Movie Analysis)

The music at the beginning of the film is bright and hopeful . It has flutes and strings playing a light , upbeat melody that sounds a little like a lullaby at first . Gardner is shown tucking in his son . Then stockbrokers can be seen mingling with homeless men . Smiling people walk home with their groceries . Gardner takes his son to a white-walled preschool . It looks a little darker from the outside , but the wall is painted in bright colors

When Gardner tries to sell his scanner to doctor 's , their offices are whitewalled

and bright . The unpleasantness can be seen in the doctor 's expression , but the whole scene is not painted in dark colors . Gardner 's wife has messy hair and a mean face , but she is pretty otherwise . The darkness is in her emotions , speaking and style . It isn 't done by making her face green or her eyes blood red . The house is a bit messy but it isn 't unpleasant . The lights are nice and the TV shows Ronald Reagan 's friendly face . He 's speaking a message that is somewhat disappointing , but hopeful . It helps set the scene . Reagan 's message and the Rubik 's cube seem like minor points at first . Tiny scene setters but both become essential to the plot . Gardner , in fact , gets his first interview by making every side of the Rubiks cube right

Gardner 's plight isn 't shown by showing him in bar fights or abusive scenes . Instead it is shown by contrasting him with crowds of happy stockbrokers . He is on the outside looking in . Although Gardner 's stress can be seen from time to time when he tells his son to "shut up " He never goes overboard . He never hurts anyone and never becomes a monster...