Shane Connaughton
Occupation
Filmmaker
My Left Foot Review
Excellent
One of cinema's most infamously hoity-toity titles covers one of its most infamously arty topics: An Irish writer/painter with cerebral palsy who can only use his left foot -- and barely, at that. Never mind the eye-rolling and the nay-saying. My Left Foot is a heartfelt and soulful movie. And while you'll know you're watching an art movie when you sit down to ogle it, you're not going to find a film dripping with saccharine or even shrouded in subtitles. This is just good old-fashioned filmmaking that just so happens to be about a guy that can barely move.Christy Brown (who died eight years before this film was made) was born with C.P. and pretty much assumed by his family to be retarded beyond hope until -- as a pre-teen -- he proved he could scrawl a word on the floor with his toes. Encouraged by his mother (Brenda Fricker), Christy learns to read and write, and even paint. Meanwhile, of course, adversity waits at every turn.
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