NATHAN HAGWOOD, a middle school age-kid, wants to play piano but doesn’t have the resources. He gets picked on in school by the bully, LENNY, and can’t stand up to his father, MR. HAGWOOD, who wishes Nathan could play football in his stead. When the music teacher MRS. WIPER tells Nathan that there once was a child prodigy from their small town of Shelby, Nathan is inspired to learn to play well enough to leave. Nathan encourages his mom, MRS. HAGWOOD, to pick up her passion for painting again, so she helps him convince his father about piano lessons. Eventually, Mr. Hagwood agrees to the lessons if Nathan pays for them by working at the local hardware store. Mrs. Wiper tells Nathan about an opportunity to audition for the country’s top music school in the spring, for which he can win a scholarship if he works
hard enough.
Eventually, Nathan puts the clues together and realizes that the child prodigy she mentioned is the town crazy guy known as the Bicycle Man, CARL. He desperately tries to win Carl’s friendship, but Carl stubbornly resists. Nathan takes lessons from MISS MERIWEATHER and begins to improve significantly in terms of his technical skills. He also allows his father to teach him to play football in order to improve their relationship. While Nathan learns all that he can in his lessons, he slowly works his way onto Carl’s good side. It helps when Nathan goes out of his way to rescue Carl’s dog. After Nathan places third in the school talent show, Carl takes him under his wing to show him how to play from the heart. Carl lets Nathan use his piano at home and gives him complicated exercises to practice. Things progress smoothly until Lenny provokes Nathan to fight him and get in trouble. Mr. Hagwood grounds Nathan, so Carl plots a scheme to cover for Nathan at the hardware store while Nathan goes to his home to practice. The scheme works until his boss MR. DRIVER and the SHERIFF catch on. Mr. Hagwood is furious and ends Nathan’s dreams of playing piano.
Nathan loses all hope when Carl gets into a bicycle accident that puts him in a coma. Realizing that they were wrong, Mr. and Mrs. Hagwood come clean to Nathan and reveal that Carl is his brother. He was adopted after their parents died in a car accident. Nathan refuses to go to his audition until Carl wakes from his coma and pushes him to play from the heart. Nathan wows the judges and wins the scholarship. He mends his relationship with his parents and friends, then gives a tearful goodbye to Carl before he leaves town to pursue his dreams.
