I like Daniel Day-Lewis. I get what he was after (not milking our sympathy and giving an accurate portrayal). That said, this movie was boring. Boring.
First of all, the storyline is just not that great. I realize it's Christy Brown's life. I don't dispute that he's amazing; nor that his mom was amazing; nor his siblings, who, too, are wonderfully loving. It's just not that great a "plot."
Secondly, I can be very emotional, but this movie didn't make me cry, laugh, feel indignant, or teach me any great life lesson. I wasn't inspired, and felt no sense of triumph.
Thirdly, watching the movie was like someone saying to me, "Hey, there's this guy I read about with cerebral palsy. All he could control was his left foot, so he wrote and painted with it. His paintings were actually very good, and he typed with his toe." My response? "Wow" (with no exclamation point). Am I interested to hear more? No. Am I glad he told me? Not really.
Lastly, Daniel Day-Lewis's acting was so good, that I could understand only 15% of his words. Tough to watch a movie when you can't understand the main character. Give me a break. This may be the case with some individuals with severe CP (but not with my CP friends, 90% of whose words I understand), but even if it were the case for Christy Brown, I mean--come on--I'm watching a movie here. Make me a concession. I know, I know. If he were my brother, I'd have to learn. But this is a movie. I've got two hours, not a background of twelve years listening to this guy and thereby learning to understand him. Speak understandably, DDL, for the sake of the movie viewers; we'll still get your point. DDL's unclear speech causes one to try to figure out through the whole movie what he's just said by the context of how everyone else in the movie responds. Let me understand his words. Speak so that I can. Ugghhh.
First of all, the storyline is just not that great. I realize it's Christy Brown's life. I don't dispute that he's amazing; nor that his mom was amazing; nor his siblings, who, too, are wonderfully loving. It's just not that great a "plot."
Secondly, I can be very emotional, but this movie didn't make me cry, laugh, feel indignant, or teach me any great life lesson. I wasn't inspired, and felt no sense of triumph.
Thirdly, watching the movie was like someone saying to me, "Hey, there's this guy I read about with cerebral palsy. All he could control was his left foot, so he wrote and painted with it. His paintings were actually very good, and he typed with his toe." My response? "Wow" (with no exclamation point). Am I interested to hear more? No. Am I glad he told me? Not really.
Lastly, Daniel Day-Lewis's acting was so good, that I could understand only 15% of his words. Tough to watch a movie when you can't understand the main character. Give me a break. This may be the case with some individuals with severe CP (but not with my CP friends, 90% of whose words I understand), but even if it were the case for Christy Brown, I mean--come on--I'm watching a movie here. Make me a concession. I know, I know. If he were my brother, I'd have to learn. But this is a movie. I've got two hours, not a background of twelve years listening to this guy and thereby learning to understand him. Speak understandably, DDL, for the sake of the movie viewers; we'll still get your point. DDL's unclear speech causes one to try to figure out through the whole movie what he's just said by the context of how everyone else in the movie responds. Let me understand his words. Speak so that I can. Ugghhh.