December 29, 1999 -- "The Legend of 1900" is an interesting fairy tale about a fantastically gifted piano player who is born, and lives on a boat, never leaving it.

Tim Roth (of "Rob Roy") plays the man named 1900, after the year he was born, and Pruitt Taylor Vince (of "Natural Born Killers") plays his best friend, Max, a trumpet player. Together, the two play in a big band on a luxury liner as it crosses and re-crosses the Atlantic in the 1920s and 1930s.

There is a memorable scene when they first meet. Max is seasick from the effects of a huge storm. 1900 tells Max to take the brakes off the piano and ride it with him. The huge grand piano glides back and forth across the ballroom floor, and then down the halls of the ship. It is one of those magical moments that director Giuseppe Tornatore had so many of in his film "Cinema Paradiso."

When 1900 plays, however, there is no magic, just speed. Although his fingers fly incredibly fast around the keyboard, his playing isn't especially artful. There's a big piano duel between 1900 and Jelly Roll Morton (played by Clarence Williams III of "Hoodlum") and Jelly Roll loses the contest, not because he can't play better, he does, instead, the contest is based on speed. 1900 plays so fast, the piano strings get red hot.

There is one scene when 1900 does have some magic in his fingers. That's when he sees a beautiful young girl (Mélanie Thierry) though a porthole while he's playing for a wax recording on the ship. The love he feels for the girl seems to be transmitted to his fingers and he plays beautiful music.

This is where the story falls apart. 1900 stays on the ship. Any male human being with blood in his veins would have followed that beautiful young girl to the ends of the earth, but this guy doesn't. He turns into a melancholy sop. Human beings seek new adventures, they want to see new places. They are not satisfied to be held in a cramped space. 1900 allows himself to be defined by that small space. That's why this is a fairy tale and not a human drama. It is a story that's worth a trumpet, and a C+.

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