Movies
My Left Foot
Specimen of that dreaded genre, and TV staple, the disease movie, in this case the true story of Christy Brown, the Dublin painter and author afflicted with cerebral palsy. As compared with its TV cousins, it's blessedly free of "edification" (while offering plenty of laconic triumph and uplift), but at the same time, and less blessedly, it is also a little free of basic information. The scene in his childhood when Christy has to descend the stairs to come to his mother's aid, or the scene in adolescence when he takes part in a neighborhood soccer game, would be a good example of what's wanted: how he makes do with what he's got (i.e., the use of his left leg only). Brenda Fricker, as the mother (of Christy and of twenty-one others altogether), gives a nice, unspectacular, unactressy, steady-as-she-goes performance. Daniel Day-Lewis, as Christy, gives a very different sort of performance, requiring at least as much brass as skill. Directed by Jim Sheridan. 1989.
Reader Rating:
MPAA Rating: R
