What the Deaf Man Heard (1997)
In 1945, a young boy arrives in a small Georgia town on a bus from which his mother was abducted and murdered. Alone he sits quietly and everyone becomes convinced that he is deaf and mute. Deciding that silence offers some power and protection, the boy decides to remain mute and just listens to all that is being said around him by people who think that he cannot hear.
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Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful
Best movie ever!
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
I have to disagree with the comment posted by Lexicon which appears on the main IMDb page.I found this film to be hilarious and well acted. Given most of the trash that's available for viewing, I had no problem with watching this one with the kids. Of course, there's no real sex, real violence, blood, gore...it's all implied. Even when someone is murdered, there's no filming OF the murder and no bloody body. It IS a Hallmark movie, after all. If you're looking for such, look elsewhere.But if you're looking for a moving story of a helpless child making the best of a horrible situation, and you like to laugh, then this is 90 minutes well spent.The only complaint I had with the movie, which was pointed out by one of my boys, was that they didn't spend enough time on Sammy (the "deaf" boy's) childhood character. Having been deaf for the first four years of his life, I'm sure the boy knows what he's talking about.
All you have to do is sit back and observe what is going on in the town and you can identify with Sammy and get in on the plots going on around him. His faking it is a great deal more believable than much of what is on the tube these days. Quit trying to make more of it than was meant.
For me, Hallmark Hall of Fames are like the Super Bowl, the main event is nice to watch, but the commercials are the real reason to tune in. What can I say, I like cheez. However, "What the Deaf Man Heard" is a rare exception. This is a movie that captured my attention. I laughed, I cried, it was better than CATS. I don't believe it's on video, but CBS plays it again every so often. Check it out.
There are some terrific performances in this film - Matthew Modine, Tom Skerritt, Judith Ivey, James Earl Jones - but the director and writer seem uncertain whether this is a sentimental drama or a satirical comedy. As it stands it is a peculiar mixture of both with the drama spoiling the comedy and the comedy spoiling the drama. And what a terrible waste of the magnificent talent of Claire Bloom!