MOVIE REVIEWS
February 2007
* Out of Darkness (1994 made-for-TV movie-biography)
Diana Ross played Paulie Cooper, a former med student who loses 18 years of her life due to a bout with schizophrenia and after a release from a mental ward, she seeks to better herself in a world that had pretty much shunned her. The movie was one of the first films that seriously dealt with schizophrenia. The film garnered Ross a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a TV Movie.
A Beautiful Mind (2001-biography)
The Academy Award-winning film was inspired by the Nobel Prize (Economics) winning mathematician John Nash and his experiences with schizophrenia. The film is loosely based on the more factual biography of the same name. This film is essentially a story of how a brilliant man was able to live with the vicissitudes of a debilitating mental illness to attain a true sense of accomplishment, or some would say, even a sense of greatness.
Call Me Anna (1990 drama)
Based upon Patty Duke's bestselling autobiography, Call Me Anna details the Academy Award-winning actress's rise to stardom and her lifelong struggle with manic depression.
Benny & Joon (1993 love story staring Johnny Depp)
In a small town, an auto mechanic named Benny is devoted to taking care of his mentally ill sister, Joon, who can barely function alone in the real world despite being a talented artist. This relatively stable situation is shaken up when Benny is obliged in a poker game to welcome another player's relative, Sam, to his home for a few days. When Sam arrives, he quickly makes an impression with his quietly eccentric ways which emulate the antics of the great silent movie comedian, Buster Keaton.
Mr. Jones: (1993, staring Richard Gere)
What is remarkable about "Mr. Jones" is how clearly it communicates his feelings. We begin to understand why manic-depression is sometimes described as the only mental illness its victims enjoy - on the up days, anyway.
For a list of many more films check out this site:
http://faculty.dwc.edu/nicosia/moviesandmentalillnessfilmography.htm
* Movie we will be showing at the February 27th Advocacy meeting. Join us for popcorn and a lively discussion about movies and the impact they have on acceptance and understanding.