BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Nonureva Really Surprised!

Btexxamar I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

SnoopyStyle It's 1978 Azusa, California. Rocky Dennis (Eric Stoltz) has massive facial deformities. His biker single mom Rusty (Cher) registers him into the 9th grade. He's a happy well adjusted teen who dreams of riding motorcycles with his friend around the world. She's a force of nature. He excels in school academically. The surprised principal notices his tutoring jobs and gets him a counseling job at Camp Bloomfield for the blind. He falls for blind girl Diana Adams (Laura Dern). Gar (Sam Elliott) is a fellow biker who is in love with Rusty.This is a wonderful feel-good movie. Eric Stoltz is utterly charming. Cher is a great momma bear and Laura Dern is angelic. The puppy love is heart warming and heart breaking. The story is an inspirational tale and the actors make the movie even better.

vincentripol Although I'll probably consider "The Last Picture Show" as Peter Bogdanovich's greatest film, "Mask" is such a close runner-up, it's almost a tie - along with "Paper Moon". What's more surprising is the gap between those two early Bogdanovich classics and the mid-80's "Mask", making it a sort of comeback for the inconsistent director.It's a true story, and although it's been Hollywood-ized, it still rings true. The relationship between Cher and Eric Stoltz as mother and son is what anchors the film, and it's one of the most unconventional family dynamics ever portrayed, even in the era of the alternative single mother raising a unique child. Cher and Winona Ryder would come close to matching that chemistry in "Mermaids", but perhaps because "Mask" involves an only child, the bond is stronger and more focused than what Cher later achieved with Ryder and Christina Ricci.The supporting cast also is excellent, and includes "Golden Girl" Estelle Getty as Cher's mother, as well as Laura Dern as a blind teenager. Such great work all around helps the typical dramatic elements feel more natural, and highlights the real-life accomplishments of Rocky Dennis in an entertaining and inspiring manner, no matter how many times you see the film and know its outcome. Among many great scenes that were successfully incorporated for dramatic effect, the amusement park fun-house mirror is one of my favorites. I can't say enough positive things about this wonderful movie.

Kadath Bird There are lots of these films. Generally, these "Feel good/inspirational films" try so hard that they end up making you feel sick. Often they go above and beyond the reality and overplay something so insignificant, its hard to relate to it. Mask does neither. Mask is grounded in reality. Yes, some of the facts are skewered, but it lives in the real world. It feels realistic and it feels relatable. Another thing Mask does differently is how it spreads its "Inspirational" message. Many of these films just give the message straight up, with no spice or seasoning to make it interesting. Or they might just toss it in your face at the beginning and forget it, letting it sit in your face throughout the movie, often making it more uncomfortable than inspiring. Mask uses subtly and lets the story itself unfold its message. The direction is tight and conveys this beautifully. There is a scene that always touches me- when Rocky is looking in a fun house mirror. At first we do not see what he sees, but he goes to get his mother. She looks into the mirror, and the fun house mirror shows Rocky but without his facial disorder. It's a beautiful, somewhat haunting, scene.The film is the true life story of Roy "Rocky" Dennis, a boy born with a disease commonly known as "Lionitis" that deforms the cranial growth. His mother, played surprisingly well by Cher, is short tempered and morally questionable, but is ultimately determined to help Rocky live as good a life as normal.The ultimate message of the film is not to be shallow. It doesn't matter what you look like on the outside, it's what is inside, what is behind the "mask" if you will, that counts. The movie conveys its message well, and Rocky's character does a good job of delivering that message. Rocky was intelligent, nice, funny, and caring. Sure he has his faults, but once again thats the film actually staying in the realm of reality. Rocky is a likable- if not lovable character despite his originally off putting appearance.Mask is something we don't see in cinemas anymore: An "inspirational" true story that doesn't force it and ultimately, succeeds in making you feel good and even tugs your heart strings a bit. So many films try to do this but fail, but we should be thankful we have Mask. One of the most beautiful and touching films ever made.

eric262003 It's easy to point out that this story is based on actual events once the cameras start rolling. It is also backed up by excellent performances by Cher and Eric Stoltz. "Mask" is a tender, heart-warming story of a young teenager named Rocky Dennis who is very intelligent and emotionally sensitive as well. However, he is scarred badly due to a rare disease that has disfigured his face since he was born. As always people who pass him by or approach him a first glance feel slightly intimidated by his deformity. But by not letting these fears get to him, he becomes well over with his peers as they learn to accept him for who he is, not by what he looks like. Rocky also gets a boost of confidence from his mother, Rusty Dennis, played with sheer excellence by Cher. Rusty is a gorgeous, single mother with problems of her own too. She spends most of her time hanging around with biker gangs, she drinks, smokes, is addicted to drugs, but in spite of her problems, she continues to love her son and will bend over backwards to defend him from anyone who puts him to a lesser degree. For example, when the school principal who recommended that her deformed son be placed in a "special" school and how she told him off to his face that he will thrive with the normal students and threatened to sue him, shows that her love for her son will always be first before her. But with his progress and his strong academic showings, Rocky graduates as valedictorian of his class.Ever since he was born, Rusty delivered tough love towards her son, not to the point where he'll suffer a nervous breakdown, but just as way to keep him motivated and to blend in with people his own age like as though he was a normal child, without taking advantage of his deformity. And Rocky continued that legacy, from the morning he wakes up to face the world, inflate his self-confidence, keeping the glass half-full and just be happy with the world around him in what little time he has on this Earth. And eventually through tiring persuasion to get his mother to clean up her act, the audience finds more ways to love Rocky for what he really is. You love him because Rocky is a kid who loves people back which to this day is a precious commodity that you rarely see these days.I have seen "Mask" many times and every time I watch the movie, tissue paper is never behind. It is a coming-of-age story that deals with triumphs and failures of having an incurable disease and is handled in a believable and sensitive approach. But the great center in the story is not entirely centered on the kid's physical illness, but the bonding between a mother and her son.