Children of a Lesser God (1986)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

A Masterpiece!

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Marlee Matlin may have taken home Oscar gold for "Children of a Lesser God" (and she deserved it) but I really do have a newfound respect for William Hurt after watching this. Using Matlin's singing as a comparison, you can tell that he really put in the time to learn sign language for the role. And he has the largely thankless role of interpreting both characters during dialogue scenes. I dunno, I just liked him very much here; he was a great teacher, very sympathetic, and integral in the film's sincerity.And if you can get past that oppressive sore, this is overall a great romantic drama.7/10

This is far from a perfect movie, but it's a really beautiful movie that manages evoke a lot of emotion out of you. My main advice for you is to be patient. It's deliberately slow-paced, but if you stick with it, you'll be rewarded with a great experience. I've never encountered a deaf person before, and I'm not really that knowledgeable about them. I'm even ashamed to admit that I don't know any sign language. I do know that they are difficult to handle, but they are still people, and you should treat them as such. The incredible performances are one of the main reasons why I liked this movie. Marlee Matlin deserved her Oscar. She's deaf in real life, but it was still an extremely impressive performance. She had some very intense scenes with William Hurt. Speaking of Hurt, he was phenomenal as well. His brash and ambitious methods were fun to watch. Piper Laurie is really good. I usually hate her method style of acting, but she was thankfully restrained here. Good stuff!This is a moving film. It has its flaws, but it will leave you thinking for a while after it's over. See it if you can!7.8/10

If I'm watching a film about two unlikable people that the script is desperate to put together, you can forgive me for not being too enthusiastic. In Children Of A Lesser God there's a teacher called James with an 'unconventional' style of doing things (When are we going to see a NORMAL educator doing NORMAL things?) That 'SURPRISE SURPRISE' work on his unruly class. He's just started at a school for the deaf you see, and in true Dead Poet's Society style, is the only live wire in a sea of formality. This part of the movie, as derivative as it is, is at least interesting.Then we meet the love interest Sarah, played by Oscar winner Marlee Matlin. She's 25, a former student there who's stayed on as a cleaner. For some reason, James starts to unabashedly stalk her and won't take "NO" for an answer when propositioning her for a date. She eventually gives in (Perhaps to just shut him up) and 'SHOCK HORROR' her emotions turn from dislike to l'amour almost in the space of one dinner.Another thing to note about her is her DARK AND TROUBLED PAST which shows itself in random screaming fits that arise for no particular reason. Yeah, she's had it bad... But flying off the handle at the slightest indiscretion didn't endear her to me one bit. So, you have the creepy stalker teacher who's OH SO WILD & WACKY on one hand, and the unstable deaf girl who takes offense at virtually everything on the other. Am I supposed to root for these irritating boors? No dice.I'll say one thing for them, though... They TRULY belong together. 5/10

CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD seemed like it would feel right at home on the Lifetime Network. There's nothing wrong with that, per se, except that those types of films tend to go for the easy emotional hook rather than dealing with harsher realities that might be more true to life. However, this film rises above that, to a degree, thanks to some good work by the reliable William Hurt and an eye-opening performance by deaf actress Marlee Matlin. Her presence was critical to making it work, and its success mostly rests on her shoulders.The story concerns a teacher, James Leeds (William Hurt), who is a new addition to the faculty at Kittredge School for the Deaf. He is an idealistic person with unconventional teaching methods who quickly earns the trust and admiration of his students. However an employee, Sarah (Marlee Matlin), and also a former student, proves more of a challenge. Despite her resistance to him trying to help, a romance blossoms between the two and sets the stage for a clash of wills.Aside from the outstanding performances (including a small, but affecting turn by Piper Laurie as Sarah's mother), one thing I thought was really well-done was the intimate moments of conflict between James and Sarah after the point in the story where they fall in love. Those dialogue exchanges were key to what I felt was the central struggle in the film. Nominally, it was about a man in love trying to get through to a deaf woman, but it can also be generalized to any relationship where communication can be difficult. Men and women often enter a relationship hoping that the other person will meet them on their own terms, but the reality is that it's best if they meet each other halfway. This is something I thought was beautifully explored in the film. I also enjoyed the many scenes where James interacts with his students, as these provided some comic relief.Still, not everything was so admirable. For one, I thought that the film took a rather patriarchal attitude towards women. Marlee Matlin, strong as her performance may have been, is still playing a strong-willed woman who finds herself in being with a man, just shy of being domesticated. At one point during the obligatory separation part of any romantic drama, she moves back in with her mother and gets a job, but doesn't find fulfillment in it. I understand that this film was made close to 30 years ago (and the play it was based on) so it's a product of its time, but things like that have a detrimental effect on how well a film ages. And with respect to its attitudes towards women, this film has not aged well in my opinion. They also took a rather pedestrian and cliché approach to the typical romantic elements of the story.Overall, this was a well-acted and (seemingly) well-meaning look at love in a unique relationship/circumstance. Some of the music was a little too on-the-nose, but generally was fitting. I also enjoyed the 80's pop songs they included in the soundtrack. What the film does best is explore the difficulties inherent in a relationship between a hearing and deaf person, which can be generalized to the difficulty in any relationship. Still, it's retrograde (at least, now) attitude towards women makes it a little lesser of a film than it could have been.