La vie malgré tout

Based on a true story this film written by Rama Laurie Stagner and directed by David Jones is wrenchingly honest and moving. Roxy (Amy Madigan) and Vinnie (Dennis Boutsikas) try for years to be pregnant only to have the baby they finally produce to have AIDS, and to discover they too are infected. However their story is full of hope, about appreciating what you have, learning the meaning of friendship, and making the most of your time. The film doesn't telegraph it's intentions. When the diagnosis is made is it just as much a surprise to the audience as it is to the characters, which is a credit to the screenplay. And in spite of the other treatments of similar material it maintains interest because of the disenobling integrity of the acting and the sureness of direction. It also features a remarkable death scene - the kind I've never seen realised before, and another gutsy performance from Amy Madigan, who I've always liked.

I watched this last night on the Lifetime Movie Network. I cried and cried and cried. Vinnie's outlook on life, and the way he was able to handle all this bad stuff happening to him and his family is just amazing. I would only hope I could be as half as strong. Makes me thankful for my health and the health of my family. I had to remind myself of the year this movie was made, as a couple of their close friends no longer had contact with them after they became ill. Frustrating as the husband was a doctor and should of known better. If you watch this make sure you have tissues on hand!! I definitely recommend it.

Excellent movie based on true story. I love it! Roxy Ventola McGrath died of complications due to AIDS on November 14, 1994. Survived by her husband Matthew McGrath, her parents Esther and Salvatore Abramo, her brother Jack and by merlin the beagle.

Roxy made us promise to keep fighting. She told Mary to continue to be loud and rude and in people's faces! She told her to keep doing AIDS activism and AIDS work in whatever capacity that she could be effective for as long as she is healthy enough. Roxy tried to comfort all her HIV positive friends by telling them not to worry, that science would find something that actually worked by the time it was their turn. Roxy wanted all her friends with HIV/AIDS not to be afraid of dying. She said "It's not so bad, well.... it's bad, but it's not as bad as you think it's going to be. It's not as scary as you think it's going to be." Roxy was a great advocate for peer counseling and peer support programs as you can see from her agency affiliations listed below. She would often remark about how she hated the "neggies" (a term she used to describe HIV negative people) trying to tell people with AIDS how they should feel or what they should do and how nice they should be to their care providers. She hated it when negative people would try to hone in on peer support groups to "observe" or offer "pity". "No neggies allowed!" she would say, "this is about us". The 1994 movie described the events which led to the deaths of her husband, Vinny, and infant daughter, Miranda Rose. They both died from AIDS in 1991. In 1993, Roxy was remarried to AIDS activist, Matthew McGrath.

Amy Madigan played the part of Roxy and won an Emmy for her outstanding performance. In her acceptance speech she gave tribute to the Ventola family and mentioned that Roxy had since passed away. Roxy's play, "After the Bomb" about a post-AIDS world, was produced in the spring of 1994 at Open Fist Theater in Los Angeles. She also performed in the Michael Kerns play, "AIDS, US Women: Silent NO More." She was: President of the Board of Women At Risk, a support service for women with HIV/AIDS; a co-founding member of Women Alive, a peer group run by and for women volunteers with HIV/AIDS; a founding member of Friends for Life, a support service for heterosexuals with HIV/AIDS; and an active member of of ACT UP/LA. In 1991, Roxy was a staff writer for the sit-com, "Sunday Dinner," produced by Norman Lear. She worked as a reporter/producer at WNET in New York from 1973-77. She created a pilot project for PBS on working class America called "US". She moved to Los Angeles, and worked at KNXT and KCET as a magazine show producer. Her journalism awards include a local Emmy for Best Documentary, "Art Therapy", and an award from Radio 8 TV News Association of Southern California in 1978.

Its about ten years since this film was released and just recently re-shown on Hallmark cable; its an intense, well written drama with excellent performances from, in particular, the main actors. A happy relatively young couple with a new born baby are then faced with their own death in distressing circumstances.It surely must be the most difficult of arts for any actor or actress to play such a scenario but its done here with conviction, skill and some humor. I found this movie compelling throughout and that is thanks to the way the whole picture was made and presented. Of course it ain't a comedy, and no movie, no matter how good, can truly portray the full depths of human tragedy but can reflect some snippits of it. And this film does exactly that, and is worthy of at least an 8 out of 10.

This is just an amazing story about "bad things that happen to good people." I just finished watching it 5 minutes ago so I'm still in awe. The story took place in 1984 - when I was 9 years old - and I had never even heard of AIDS at that time. Watching this was a learning experience for me. It amazes me how far things have developed in 22 years, both good and bad. (Bad in the amount of similar cases today, and good in the testing/treatment of the disease.) Nobody ever thinks something like this will happen to them. I still don't believe anything will ever go wrong with my life. But watching this movie makes you realize than anything unexpected can happen to anyone at anytime no matter WHO you are or how careful you are. Things just HAPPEN - and I think this movie does an excellent job portraying that fact. I can't rate this movie a 10 because I think it could have been put together a bit better, but I will definitely give it a 9 for the message it has and the reality of the situation. It's a definite "must see!"