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Customer Reviews of Children of a Lesser God

Emotionally Entertaining
"Children of a Lesser God" is one of the best films released in 1986, starring William Hurt and Marlee Matlin. Its brilliant plot never loses its emotional value. Its story about a high school teacher, James, who teaches deaf students, then meets a deaf female janitor who doesn't speak, Sarah, is unique. As secrets are revealed about Sarah's past, the film becomes increasingly interesting. James and Sarah later fall in love, but the battle between Sarah and her inner demons prevents the relationship to function at the fullest. Such twists turns arise within the characters that keep audiences always awaiting anxiously for what happens next. Therefore, this film is more than a love story; it's a story about hope. Such combination adds more unique themes. The distinction between the spoken words and the sign language was brilliantly translated. Rather than typing subtitles on the lower screen during the sign language scenes, James usually speaks what they are saying. Many say that having subtitles may have likely ruined the film's emotional affect. Such accomplishment makes the writing more brilliant.

Marlee Matlin became the youngest person to win the Oscar for the Best Actress catagory (age 21). Her role as Sarah proved highly difficult, considering she only expressed herself nonverbally. Her body language distinuish Sarah's emotions perfectly in every scene. Few others have accomplished this in such magnitude. Only one other actress has won an Oscar for playing a non-speaking lead role (Holly Hunter, "The Piano", 1993). William Hurt performs his role as James wonderfully. Though not as demanding as Matlin's role, his emotional value still holds on top. James struggles between love and reaching out are expressed beautifully in every scene. All other actors, major or minor, also perform their roles beautifully.

"Children of a Lesser God" is a wonderful film for those looking for powerful themes. This is sure to continue pleasing audiences for many more years. Its quality proves that this is destined to become a classic.

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Gripping Tale of Closed Worlds Joined
This is just an excellent, moving film of an oral track special ed instructor played magnificently by William Hurt falling in love with a Deaf sign only woman superbly acted by Marlee Matlin.

The plot develops as the energetic, determined instructor James pursues Sarah to first allow the teaching of speech, but turns it into language of love.

Two new worlds open for both as well, united at the end in a space void of silence and sound.

Passionate, enlightening, thought provoking. Keeps your interest throughout.

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Children of a Lesser God
For a movie so 'profound' in its beauty of bridging the gap between hearing and non-hearing people, maybe this movie could have been much more. As it is, it's practically just the idea of 2 different people relating that holds the movie up, and much of the screen time is filled with odd, formulatic sequences.

The movie is so formulatic in its delivery and so un-bold in its unfolding of events that it feels as if you have seen this movie a million times already, possibly because it borrows here and there from other movies similar to it. If this movie is described as boring, it's not because of long scenes, or lack of music, or lenghty dialogue bits, it's only because it only has mundane, tripe, and overused scenes to offer to the viewer. It also has the uncanny heavy 80's atmosphere that most people will be displeased to find in films weak with substance, and resorting to a all-knowing mocking tone towards how the 80's were in general. Take the kid in William Hurt's class for instance, who wears 80's punk garb and plays air guitar, constantly. Forget development of this guy, or possibly a less humiliating approach to his exploration into the ocean of speech, all you really get is him acting as a moving joke for the audience to chuckle at. For that reason, a movie with the title 'Children of a Lesser God' really doesn't even start to breach the waters of what this could possibly mean. No, it shows them in little humorous sequences trying to speak in plain English as a departure from their former medium of silence, and has them dancing around like idiots under control of the director. The beautiful sequences, which seem to be hampered down in thick, rich Vangelis style music, are very few, and definitely do not include any of the 'children'. And William Hurt, while possibly pleasing as the ordinary man's role, a bit tired, a bit patronized, like in his other movies, gets old in this role. Line after line delivered with that monotone voice and absolute paucity of facial expression, really gets overshadowed by even the smaller roles.