Comme des gens normaux

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.

My girlfriend and i watched this movie for the first time the other day and actually laughed at the acting in it. I have never seen such bad acting, i know this was never made to be a Hollywood blockbuster but "Waa-Jah" was just a joke. How did they ever get the budget to make this film? After getting over the initial laughter of the acting we realised that the way the actors were playing these characters was actually quite insulting. There is a very fine line when playing someone with any kind of disability, it is either very good i.e Sean Penn in "I am Sam", or what we have here in this movie which amounts to playing the character more like a playground taunt rather than with any thought or feeling.

I knew Roger and Virginia when I was a young girl. Roger volunteered at my school. Although a lot of kids made fun of him, I liked him very much. He was nice, and like another kid to me. My friend and I used to play at Roger and Virginia's house. He had a play room that was any kids dream and they always served Twinkies. I moved away later in life and I think about them every now and then and wonder what became of them. Especially when Lifetime or Oxygen plays the movie. I've told my daughter stories about them when it related to our conversations. She wondered what they looked like, so I told her how the real Roger and Virginia have a cameo in the film. I just did a search to find it for her and was saddened by the comments I just came across. I understand that it is a movie and therefore will receive criticism. But let's not forget that they are real people too. The comment regarding the actors performance was especially insulting towards the couple they portrayed. They actually did a pretty great job. That's how they talk. Virginia really calls him "WahJah". She has speech problems that cause her words to sound a little nasally. They walk funny and they talk funny and they are better people than most. I won't sit here all day and beat you guys over the head. I just wanted you to know that sometimes your comments may hurt people and that in the future if you're commenting on a true story that maybe you could just be more careful with the words you choose.

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.

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.