Children Of A Lesser God on DVD (1986)

A painfully contrived drama, with a better cast than it deserves

Philip Concannon from London , 05/10/2004

James Leeds(William Hurt) arrives at a school for the deaf with an impressive CV. He's taught speech therapy at all the best schools, but he's also had spells as a bartender and DJ, so we know he's a bit unconventional.

His boss soon tells him that 'no-one's trying to change the world here' and his teaching methods are frowned upon by the establishment, but his crazy antics are soon getting results with his initially difficult pupils. However, a beautiful but stubborn girl named Sarah(Marlee Matlin) is the one he really wants to help. Soon the pair are in love, but her disability is proving a barrier in their relationship.

'Children of a Lesser God' is one of those films that's programmed, crafted and controlled from first frame to last; to tug at the heart-strings, win awards and let Hollywood show how mature and sensitive it is. There's nothing in this movie that feels spontaneous or free as it covers all the expected bases.

However, when you cast William Hurt you know you're going to get a performance of subtlety and intelligence. His character is such a cliche(the handsome, eccentric, idealistic teacher you find only in Hollywood) that he seems occasionally constricted by the role, but he offers a convincing portrayal of a loving, frustrated man desperate to fully understand his partner.

His performance is equalled by the Oscar-winning Marlee Matlin who, in her debut role, is outstanding as the troubled Sarah. She gives a gutsy display and has a strong chemistry with Hurt, which carries the story.

The rest of Randa Haines' conventional film is full of standard 'overcoming adversity' sequences(none worse than the deaf student's song-and-dance show) and an obvious climax.

Hurt and Matlin are marvellous throughout but are let down by the material. There are glimpses here of the drama this could have been before it's swamped by the Hollywood gloss. As expected, 'Children of a Lesser God' won plenty of plaudits and nominations, but it could have done so much more.

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A little insight into a deaf person's world.

Joe Chacko from Winchester, England , 23/05/2004

This film raises some interesting questions about the way the world treats deaf people, and it does this through the life of a hearing man who teaches at a school for the deaf. Quite apart from the philosophical aspect, the film is also an interesting romance between two very unusual characters. The film is slow-paced but rewarding.

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Pure Hollywood schmaltz

Bill Hardwick from Cheshire , 22/04/2005

A great disappointment. Marlee Matlin's performance was excellent and worthy of the Oscar she won for it - for the rest... Yuk! I have to disagree with other reviewers re William Hurt's performance: I thought it uneven and he often seemed ill at ease with his character. The central premise of the plot was interesting enough - but, oh dear, did it get the full Hollywood treatment! So much schmaltz you could feel it rotting your teeth. And a classroom full of clich?ed American teen stereotypes, distinguished only from those of any other US highschool flick by their common disability - and the class size (even in a specialist school, are the classes really so small?). In fact the classroom/concert scenes were so embarrassingly awful as to give the impression they had been accidentally edited in from a different film, being totally at odds with the main story. Perhaps it was Hollywood having a panic attack that the main theme might be a bit too strong, so let's ham it up with some cute teen fun - if so it was seriously misjudged as it destroyed the cohesiveness of the film. I came away with the feeling that the original play was probably somewhat better and that although there were the makings of a good movie somewhere in there, this was certainly not it.

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Pure Hollywood schmaltz

Bill Hardwick from Cheshire , 22/04/2005

A great disappointment. Marlee Matlin's performance was excellent and worthy of the Oscar she won for it - for the rest... Yuk! I have to disagree with other reviewers re William Hurt's performance: I thought it uneven and he often seemed ill at ease with his character. The central premise of the plot was interesting enough - but, oh dear, did it get the full Hollywood treatment! So much schmaltz you could feel it rotting your teeth. And a classroom full of clich?ed American teen stereotypes, distinguished only from those of any other US highschool flick by their common disability - and the class size (even in a specialist school, are the classes really so small?). In fact the classroom/concert scenes were so embarrassingly awful as to give the impression they had been accidentally edited in from a different film, being totally at odds with the main story. Perhaps it was Hollywood having a panic attack that the main theme might be a bit too strong, so let's ham it up with some cute teen fun - if so it was seriously misjudged as it destroyed the cohesiveness of the film. I came away with the feeling that the original play was probably somewhat better and that although there were the makings of a good movie somewhere in there, this was certainly not it.

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Pure Hollywood schmaltz

Bill Hardwick from Cheshire , 22/04/2005

A great disappointment. Marlee Matlin's performance was excellent and worthy of the Oscar she won for it - for the rest... Yuk! I have to disagree with other reviewers re William Hurt's performance: I thought it uneven and he often seemed ill at ease with his character. The central premise of the plot was interesting enough - but, oh dear, did it get the full Hollywood treatment! So much schmaltz you could feel it rotting your teeth. And a classroom full of clich?ed American teen stereotypes, distinguished only from those of any other US highschool flick by their common disability - and the class size (even in a specialist school, are the classes really so small?). In fact the classroom/concert scenes were so embarrassingly awful as to give the impression they had been accidentally edited in from a different film, being totally at odds with the main story. Perhaps it was Hollywood having a panic attack that the main theme might be a bit too strong, so let's ham it up with some cute teen fun - if so it was seriously misjudged as it destroyed the cohesiveness of the film. I came away with the feeling that the original play was probably somewhat better and that although there were the makings of a good movie somewhere in there, this was certainly not it.

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superb

historical from Towcester [Highly rated reviewer] , 04/05/2008

well acted and entertaining believeble story

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