Like Normal People

Ok, I haven't watched the movie yet; however, I do know Roger and his wife Virginia. They are my neighbors and the nicest people! Roger stopped by my house yesterday to let me know he and Virginia were celebrating their 44th wedding anniversary!

I enjoy high camp and this is the holy grail of T.V. camp. While this was made to be sensitive tale of two people in love in a time when love for them was not allowed, it is nothing more than a send up of people with disabilities. I laughed out loud when this thing first aired. In fact everyone I knew laughed out loud. The only film I can think of that has more unintentional funny dialog is the English dubbed version of Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster. The enjoyable aspect is you get to see some great location shots in Los Angeles. When was the last time you saw Love's Ribs on Pico? (BTW that was a real lazy location FOX! What was it... Two blocks from the front gate?) There is nothing kind or touching in this film. A contemporary viewer would would laugh non-stop until the bitter predictable preachy end. This is dark comedy at its finest. Come on Zalman King playing someone who cares? No way! It gets a ten in my book for being a constant source of jokes.

This was decently done, especially for the era. I was expecting camp but NOT because of the subject but because of the era and a teen idol in the cast. I expected it to be handled so badly it would be funny. Fortunately, that is not the case.

This TV movie tries its best to be understanding and realistic. The performances are adequate. I hope some people learned something from watching it.

What kind of person makes fun of a person who has to struggle more than they do? They should he admired. They deserve respect and compassion. Only a person who dislikes themselves would treat the challenged so badly.

It's always very difficult to make movies about such issue, retardation folks. I have already seen NO OTHER LOVE, another TV movie about the same problem, and I felt exactly the same. It's not a bad feature, of course, and it's very well done, but people could see it in a different way, as a sort of "circus" freak show...The acting is superb, nothing to argue about this. No many big screen movies were made about this topic, and I understand why, that would not be big success at the box office, unless it is pulled by great actors and directors: see for instance RAIN MAN - although it is was about an autistic man and not retarded.

The typical home film, made for families. I recommend it. Moving at the most.

Cassidy and Purl give credible, moving performances as a slightly retarded young couple who fall in love and want to get married--to be "like normal people". Unfortunately, their parents and their friends don't believe they have the ability to do so. Thus the story moves along their struggles to overcome a system which seeks to suppress those "outside the norm"; in a more profound sense, it is a realistic, gritty look at what obstacles true love can overcome. An extremely difficult, challenging role for each to play effectively; but how magnificently they rose to that challenge. It is certainly worth the time to view this film--like rare flowers, the fragrance remains long after the blossoms are gone.