| Yeah, the ending was a bit... obvious.
As far as Robin William's character went though, the negative aspects were necessary. He's the bad guy. All indications point to himself going through the kid's same experience at one point without a happy ending, therein making him "lose his way".
You'll notice in the scene where he says, "You need to love music more than you love food, more than you love life", it leaves a bit of a contradiction for later in the movie where he shows that he loves money more than the music. | 