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The Movie: This powerful, moving Best Picture nominee stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Christy Brown, an Irish writer/artist who suffered from cerebral palsy. With his left foot the only part of his body that he had complete control over, Brown managed to go on to become a published author. The movie opens following Christy (played impressively well by young Hugh O'Connor) growing up in a lower-class section of town, cared for by his parents (Brenda Fricker and Ray McAnally) and many other siblings, who support him despite his difficulties. Although he grows up barely being able to communicate, he eventually learns to read and write using his foot, and gradually takes up painting. As he grows older, his speech begins to improve, thanks to working with a therapist, Dr. Eileen Cole (Fiona Shaw.) Over the years, Christy falls in love and is devastasted when his affections are not returned. When he begins to have feelings for Dr. Cole, he's devastated when she announces that she is engaged to be married, causing a heartbreaking scene. Although he gradually was married to a woman that cared for him, Christy was a tough soul who often turned to alcohol. Director Jim Sheridan's movie is phenomenal for a lot of reasons. For starters, the movie is not one that plays up emotional moments with a sappy score and Big Speeches. The movie doesn't ask for our sympathy, but the viewer is strongly sympathetic, nonetheless, thanks to terrific performances and direction. As for performances, the movie offers a wealth of great ones, lead by Day-Lewis's extraordinary portrayal of a man fighting to overcome his disabilities - and succeeding. Also outstanding are Fricker as a mother who will not give up on her child, and young O'Connor, whose work as the young Christy is nearly equal, if not a match, for Day-Lewis's incredible effort. Additionally, the movie is paced fairly briskly at 103 minutes, and yet it manages to tell Christy's life in quite a satisfactory, full manner. Despite not working with a major budget, Sheridan's film captures the settings and time period quite superbly. Overall, this is a superior drama that tells an inspiring story quite marvelously, able to be quite moving and emotional without any manipulation. The DVD VIDEO: Despite the box listing "digitally remastered picture and sound", I found the image quality on this release to be just satisfactory. Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, the picture does suffer from some a few issues. Sharpness and detail are just fine, as the picture appeared crisp, but inconsistently so. The main concern I had with the presentation was edge enhancement, which was visible in slight-to-moderate amounts in several scenes. While I was able to overlook it at times, there were other scenes where I thought it was distracting. Wear was the other problem I found with this release, as the opening moments seemed noticably dirty, and various specks marks and other signs of minor wear were occasionally spotted throughout the rest of the film. Some light-to-mild grain, which was likely an intentional element of the cinematography, was also seen. The film's subdued color palette looked fine, with no smearing or other concerns. SOUND: The Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation is generally pleasant, although understandably, given the age of the material and the nature of it, pretty forward-oriented. Surrounds contribute some light environmental sounds in a couple of scenes, but that's about all they offer. Otherwise,this is a fine presentation, with perfectly satisfactory audio quality - dialogue remains clear and easily understood, while the score sounded well-recorded. EXTRAS: Not a whole lot - we get a brief featurette talking about the real Christy Brown, a somewhat longer "making of" featurette that's rather informative and finally, a still gallery and four reviews of the movie. Final Thoughts: "My Left Foot" is a powerful and extraordinarily well-acted drama, with several outstanding performances. This DVD edition is satisfactory, but it the movie deserves more. The video quality is adequate, audio quality is fine and the supplements are too brief (no commentary?). Still, the movie itself is first-rate, and the DVD gets a recommendation as a result. 
Film Grade The Film A DVD Grades Video 82/B Audio: 86/B Extras: 70/C- |