MOVIE REVIEW: Children of a Lesser God (1986)

Ever since I saw Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein shockingly lampoon deaf actress Marlee Matlin on "Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show", doing a rendition of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face", I became curious about Matlin's claim to fame - A milestone drama known as Children of a Lesser God, which has become somewhat noteworthy in American deaf culture with the way it provides insight into the educational and social world of a deaf community. Movies that deal with interactions between "normal" people and different cultures fascinate me, because they're grounds for so many interesting character dynamics.

James is a newly-employed speech teacher at a school for the deaf. One day, he encounters Sarah, a young janitor, disillusioned with the world in front of her. Moved by her articulate nature, James attempts to take her under his wing in an attempt to re-acclimatize her (a theme popularized more recently in Good Will Hunting). What James doesn't expect is to actually fall in love with Sarah; their relationship becomes a turbulent road to discovering their own inner conflict, based on their ability to communicate.

Children of a Lesser God is fascinating as a drama, even more so from the fact that it was based on a play. As stated before, since the majority of the action is centered around James trying to convince Sarah that she has advanced ability to communicate, and Sarah trying to convince James she has never had, nor needed to make herself "better" by learning how to speak. The acting is fantastic, but Marlee Matlin is obviously a standout, the fact that she is deaf doesn't betray the fact that her ability to express emotion in American Sign Language is consummate. Her performance is the epitome of the saying "actions speak louder than words". If I had one major criticism about the film, it would be that I'd have preferred subtitles for the ASL, rather than have William Hurt awkwardly speak the gestures back in English to the audience. I understand this was a carryover from the play, but it was only done right in a few major instances. Nonetheless, it wasn't too bothersome in an otherwise great movie.

8/10

Peace,
- Jon