Hallmark Hall of Fame movies are always interesting and heart-tugging. This one is no exception. It features fine performances by veterans Treat Williams and Patricia Heaton-they're always good. Williams makes an unsympathetic character, one easy to dislike-a human. He makes him human, you understand his feelings, his point of view. Its truth in acting-its a great performance. Heaton is inspiring and delightful. She takes the easy role of "Mom as Hero" and makes it so much more rich and in-depth.
However, the stand out performances in this are by Dominic Scott King and Jimmy Wolk as Young and Adult Brad Cohen. Both do a simply amazing job incorporating Cohens Tourettes tics into their acting. Considering the fact that this was Wolks first leading role out of college and Kings youth, its simply extraordinary. They're incredible.
The film is well written (although does it really need the dying kid?) with moments of humor, inspiration, and more. The ignorance of people is astounding, their casual cruelty towards Cohen and his syndrome shows how truly awful so-called "good people" can be when something seems strange or different to them. This is something this film does an excellent job in showing. You want to leap into the screen and pound the people who are unjustly cruel to Cohen. You want to stand by Heaton as his mother and the actor playing his brother Jeff when they stand up to people on his behalf. The film illustrates these uncomfortable and embarrassing moments for Cohen in an excellent way. It does an equally good job showing his worries when it comes to finding love in a relationship and Cohens own frustration at his syndrome. You truly feel sad for him when he tries so hard to control his tics and simply can't. Both Wolk and King do a fantastic job showing every side of Cohens efforts to handle his Tourettes and live his life to the fullest.
The film is well edited, and is directed well. I really have no complaints about any technical aspects of the film.
In case you're wondering about the title of my post-I knew Brad and Jeff growing up in St. Louis. We went to summer camp at Camp Sabra in the Lake of the Ozarks in MO. together, and were in BBYO together as well. Both of them are a few years older than me, so I never really got to know them well at all. However, I have observed Cohens Tourettes in person and its not always as extreme as it was in the film. I admit, as a young kid (9-10) I was sometimes scared and frustrated by his tics. However, when I learned that he couldn't control it-I was shocked and felt terrible. I learned to get used to it and expect it when I was in a place with him. For the most part, both he and Jeff were pretty cool guys. Though sometimes, they could be jerks. Especially Jeff-he was something of a bully with a chip on his shoulder as I remember. But as I have learned-that's just being human-and especially being a teenager. We're all jerks sometimes. I knew that they wouldn't show this in the movie, so its not like I'm crying "J'accuse!". I just wanted to put that out there. "The more you know" you know. Regardless of what I think about the "real" Brad and Jeff Cohen, its a fine TV movie.
What Cohen has done with his life is a great story-worthy of Hallmark Hall of Fame. I just wish as an actor, I could have been in this movie or at least auditioned for it. Its a major bummer because its a good film about people who I have actually met.
Considering that Wolk was practically just out of college, had never had such a large role in a film before, was working with two seasoned vets like Heaton and Williams, and is maybe a decade or so younger than the "real" Brad Cohen, I am even more impressed with his performance watching it again than I was before.
A nice family film, and a great true story.
However, the stand out performances in this are by Dominic Scott King and Jimmy Wolk as Young and Adult Brad Cohen. Both do a simply amazing job incorporating Cohens Tourettes tics into their acting. Considering the fact that this was Wolks first leading role out of college and Kings youth, its simply extraordinary. They're incredible.
The film is well written (although does it really need the dying kid?) with moments of humor, inspiration, and more. The ignorance of people is astounding, their casual cruelty towards Cohen and his syndrome shows how truly awful so-called "good people" can be when something seems strange or different to them. This is something this film does an excellent job in showing. You want to leap into the screen and pound the people who are unjustly cruel to Cohen. You want to stand by Heaton as his mother and the actor playing his brother Jeff when they stand up to people on his behalf. The film illustrates these uncomfortable and embarrassing moments for Cohen in an excellent way. It does an equally good job showing his worries when it comes to finding love in a relationship and Cohens own frustration at his syndrome. You truly feel sad for him when he tries so hard to control his tics and simply can't. Both Wolk and King do a fantastic job showing every side of Cohens efforts to handle his Tourettes and live his life to the fullest.
The film is well edited, and is directed well. I really have no complaints about any technical aspects of the film.
In case you're wondering about the title of my post-I knew Brad and Jeff growing up in St. Louis. We went to summer camp at Camp Sabra in the Lake of the Ozarks in MO. together, and were in BBYO together as well. Both of them are a few years older than me, so I never really got to know them well at all. However, I have observed Cohens Tourettes in person and its not always as extreme as it was in the film. I admit, as a young kid (9-10) I was sometimes scared and frustrated by his tics. However, when I learned that he couldn't control it-I was shocked and felt terrible. I learned to get used to it and expect it when I was in a place with him. For the most part, both he and Jeff were pretty cool guys. Though sometimes, they could be jerks. Especially Jeff-he was something of a bully with a chip on his shoulder as I remember. But as I have learned-that's just being human-and especially being a teenager. We're all jerks sometimes. I knew that they wouldn't show this in the movie, so its not like I'm crying "J'accuse!". I just wanted to put that out there. "The more you know" you know. Regardless of what I think about the "real" Brad and Jeff Cohen, its a fine TV movie.
What Cohen has done with his life is a great story-worthy of Hallmark Hall of Fame. I just wish as an actor, I could have been in this movie or at least auditioned for it. Its a major bummer because its a good film about people who I have actually met.
Considering that Wolk was practically just out of college, had never had such a large role in a film before, was working with two seasoned vets like Heaton and Williams, and is maybe a decade or so younger than the "real" Brad Cohen, I am even more impressed with his performance watching it again than I was before.
A nice family film, and a great true story.