A film with a lesser effect...

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	• Children of a Lesser God William Hurt, Marlee Matlin Paramount, 2000 average customer review:based on 38 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

good entertainment

Having a granddaughter who is deaf and just learning sign myself I found this movie very interesting both because of the signing and the culture surrounding the deaf. I enjoyed the movie very much both from being involved with the deaf culture and just for pure entertainment.

children of a lesser God

Terrific movie. Its no wonder that Marlee won an academy award for her work.

The seller is great. Immediate shipment and received as indicated.

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Children of a Lesser God

This was a great film. It is well worth watching. It makes you think!

Children of a Lesser God fan

I saw this movie back in 1988, and i loved it. I decided to become a sign language interpreter. The movie is excellent, I strongly recomend it to everybody. The performances were oscar winners and the story very emotional. I enjoyed the movie and I'm enjoying learning sign language.

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A film with a lesser effect...

I see a lot of potential when I think back over the film that was `Children of a Lesser God'. Now, I have not seen the play but I hear that it is much harsher, much more emotionally gut punching if you will. When I watched `Children of a Lesser God' I expected to get that, that warm feeling of unease in my core, the feeling that everything is not as it should be but instead I got a much softer and much more refined experience. I'm not saying that a sweet and effective love story is a bad thing, but aside from the major plot point regarding Sarah Norman's hearing disability the film is your generic love story with nothing really to distinguish it from every other love story out there.

Boy meets girl; boy likes girl; girl is standoffish; girl falls for guy; guy and girl have fight; boy and girl make up.

I wish I could say that there was more to it than that.

That isn't to say that as a love story it doesn't work well, for the wonderful performances by the two leads help elevate the film and carry it into our hearts; I just can't help myself from thinking that it could have been so much more. I really relish in films that sink into the grit and rawness of a situation, but aside from one beautifully acted scene of aggression and emotional frustration the film is rather cheery and light; and to me that takes away from the point of the film.

The film follows James Leeds, a teacher in a school for the deaf who pushes his students to learn to speak, as he falls in love with a pupil who decided to stay at the school and work as apposed to venturing out on her own. She is calloused towards him and his attempts to speak to her rather than sign, taking it as an insult to her disability, but she soon warms to him and they start a love affair that tests their relationship in ways they never knew possible. Leeds ideas conflict with Sarah's morals and scar her emotionally, but his persistence in the preservation of their relationship helps keep them together.

I definitely feel as though the acting here is the saving grace, for both William Hurt and Marlee Matlin work hard to elevate the clichéd material they are given. Much has been made over Marlee's Oscar win being sentimental and undeserved, but the fact of the matter is that her performance is very strong despite her material. William Hurt is maybe even stronger, for he doesn't have a gimmick to work with and yet still manages to crawl inside his character. I am kind of stunned that Piper Laurie received an Oscar nomination when her performance is not that noteworthy, but it isn't bad either so I can't be too upset over it. At least she didn't win.

In the end `Children of a Lesser God' is a fine film, but it is not what it could have been. It manages to make you care about the characters but it fails to make you care about the important lessons with regard to disability that the film claims to center around. The film is too concerned with the love affair to make the disability anything more than a side-point.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Mark Medoff's tough play about deafness is sweetened and softened in this 1986 film adaptation directed by Randa Haines (Wrestling Ernest Hemingway). William Hurt plays a teacher newly hired at a school for deaf children, and Marlee Matlin is the deaf and withdrawn janitor who captures his attention. Romantic and heartfelt, the film makes its audience care very much about its two leading characters, and wince when Hurt's well-meaning instructor allows Matlin's handicap to become a problem. Haines develops some interesting visual ideas to underscore the isolation of Matlin's world, particularly a lovely refrain that finds Matlin swimming alone at night. The drama is cut somewhat by the bouncy energy and good humor of Hurt's students. Piper Laurie is very good in a supporting role as Matlin's mother. --Tom Keogh

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