Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Phillida Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Rich Wright Talk about being caught in an emotional wringer. This film very accurately describes the ups and downs of looking after someone you love who you know may not be long for this world. Despite all the doctors and experts telling you you should make your peace and get ready to say goodbye, you just can't. You're not ready. So you scour every avenue you can to find a miracle cure, spend every spare penny you have, put your life on hold during this fruitless search... But, nothing. And every time it LOOKS like they're making progress and, for a few blessed hours you feel a sense of rapture, the next day you're back to the drawing board. One step forward, two steps back. For the Odone's it was their son Lorenzo, for me it was a pet.Fortunately in their case, after painstaking research going on for months, and a belligerent attitude that flew in the face of medical science at the time, they were able to find an answer that kept him alive for decades longer than doctors predicted he would. Lorenzo died just one day after his 30th birthday in 2008... outliving his mother in the process. If this isn't a testimony to parental love, I don't know what is. AND they helped many other families who were struggling the same way. I think it's safe to say, without their contribution, the world would be a much more depressive place than it is.Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon are 100% perfect as the committed father and mother who don't take 'NO' for an answer... Nolte in particular has one scene, where after reading about the devastating symptoms of deterioration his son will experience during his illness, he has a public breakdown on the steps of the library... Which is almost Oscar worthy by itself. That Italian accent he puts on could do with some work, though. There are dull patches... but these tend to work in favour of the film, as they bring home even more what it must be like, sitting next to a family member, attached to a life-support machine, waiting for the slightest sign of optimism...But, NEVER give up. 7/10

snicaodha OK so this is my first time writing a review. I have recently noticed a huge amount of overly high ratings on the formerly reliable IMDb. For this reason I think that more reviews and ratings are needed to rectify this :/ I chose this movie with high hopes and hoped it would be like many of the inspiring greats from before the 2000's. I looked beyond the average rating of 7.2 and wondered if the story wasn't perfect perhaps the acting would be. From the beginning I was drawn in, but confused...the native with the knife...looks strange..is there more to this film than a disease and hope? Was the child cursed or something? OK I knew that wasn't going to be the case because I looked up the true story beforehand. Anyway, the native turned out to be lovely... I thought I was in for an emotional journey with this one..not so much.. It ain't nice to say but Lorenzos' crying noise was basically Tommy from Rugrats...over and over..which was distracting to say the least. Also, I know this is true but it seemed annoyingly unbelievable so I started to zone out...Noltes as the father was believable in his acting but having a dream with the solution? Much too dramatic...the white-board and extensive reading though, very believable, the urgency and desperation is admirable in the extensive research and you can see they are on the verge of a breakthrough...not with a helpful dream though.. annoying. Sarandon is great as always, wide-eyed with fear and fury. She is the perfect hopeful, desperate and adoring mother and you can't help but admire her strength and determination. However, the performance was just as I predicted it would be. That's not a bad thing...but not spectacular either. I would like to rate it 7.3, you will not be let down, but also will not feel uplifted either. The .3 is for the acting.

jliss11 Movie Critique by: Gaurav Paul Jonathan Liss Musaab HabibPlot Summary: The movie begins with a boy named Lorenzo Odone, who was normal until his 7th birthday. After that birthday, he began to have many problems, such as blackouts, memory lapses, and many other mental problems. After a while, he is diagnosed with a condition known as ALD, which is a brain disorder that could not be cured by modern medicine and is extremely rare. Basically the saturated fats, which would normally be destroyed by the body, build up in the brain depleting the myelin in the brain and therefore rapidly making simple functions of the body inoperable. Since many of the doctors in the area where he lived were not helpful to his condition, Lorenzo's parents began to learn more about the disease and how they can help Lorenzo. His parents looked at Lorenzo's disease the way they had prepared for journeys to foreign countries in the past; by studying their subject. In order to do so, both of his parents worked extremely hard reading up on biochemistry and other subject matter related to the disease. After much research and many long nights, his parents discover that what may be the secret to curing this disease is a purified olive oil. Unfortunately, they were literally only half right. Because of this mere 'half-success' in curing the disease his parent's studying continued until they found that a different oil, purified rapeseed oil, in combination with the purified oil would produce the chemicals needed to bring Lorenzo's saturated fat levels back to normal.THE CRITIQUE**Powerful Scenes *1st SceneScene begins with Augusto Odone speaking to Professor Nikolias - Augusto asks the professor if any progress was being made with any of the other kids who have ALD Then, the professor said that it is too early to tell whether any progress is being made with Lorenzo, and says that they have to wait six months After this, Augusto asks in an angry manner whether waiting six months will produce any results *2nd SceneScene begins with Augusto speaking to Michaela about what they first did when they went to the Comoros Augusto says that they got to learn the country, what resources it had, its laws, and many other things-Then, Augusto compares that with ALD and says that it also has many dimensions, so in order to learn more about it, one must know about many branches of science, such as chemistry, biology, and neurology-Then Michaela says that they don't have time to learn about all those branches of science Augusto then argues that the doctors don't know anything and that they need to take the treatment of Lorenzo into their hands Scene ends with Augusto saying that Lorenzo expects them to take care of him**Recommendations for how the movie could have been better, and what was good about the movieThe movie was supposed to be about poverty, but did not talk about the five dimensions of poverty, which are food, shelter, clothing, education, and health care - this only under the assumption that the movie would relate to the topic that we'd been given (poverty) directly The movie showed that they didn't have good health care or education, and not it was not only them they didn't have these things, as even the doctors in their area did not have a good education as they knew nothing about the disease that Lorenzo had. This, though was not directly stated as a main point of the movie and it was left to the viewer to deduce this. Also, the whole movie focused on how they could cure Lorenzo's disease, but didn't talk about poverty as much, or how they were trying to end poverty; again under the assumption that the movie would relate to poverty directly However, the movie, indirectly, showed that without the money that Lorenzo's parents had, Lorenzo would not have had the resources to cure - or at least help - the disease he was suffering from. For instance, someone in a much lower income family than Lorenzo's wouldn't have been able to afford a personal nurse or health-care in the hospital good enough to attend to the patients ALD needs.

EXodus25X An inspirational film, great performances by Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte, both were worth of Academy Award nominations, Sarandon was and Nolte was unfortunately in a very tough crowd of actors that year and didn't make the cut. Still I think it's Nolte's best performance I have ever seen. The film deals with both parents dealing with their child's illness in very different ways but both loving their child equally. The supporting cast does a good job with their material and add to the emotion of the story at a few points. It was great to learn of this being a true story and the information given to the audience right before the credits. I would love to find out some kind of current day update on the situation of things as the film only cover several years afterwords.