Freak City

This is a story of Ruth (Samantha Mathis) a young disabled woman who was living with her grandmother. The grandmother dies and the Ruth has lost her home and her caregiver. She is forced to move into a nursing home by her scheming family since they hold the power of attorney.

This is where the story is derailed. Perhaps 50 years ago it would be plausible for a competent person to be committed to a home against their will, but not now. There is no way for this to happen. Ruth is of sound mind, and she is able to manage her life except she is unable to walk. She could leave the hospital or nursing home any time she wanted, they can't hold you since these places aren't prisons. The only time you can be held against your will is if you're held on a psychiatric charge (a danger to yourself or to others), and that only is for 3 days.

So the movie starts off on the wrong foot, and it doesn't improve much from there. The characters are the typical quirky one-dimensional cardboard cut-outs you find in these types of pictures; a waste of a good cast. Then there is a love story, a fight against the family and the dealings with the other patients in the home. The story takes no risks and explores no new territory.

If the writers tried a little harder, they could have made a compelling story of a woman facing a serous debilitating disease and how she copes. Rather than a forced admission where she is held against her will, they could have given us a the real world scenario where Ruth runs out of choices and has to live in the nursing home because there is no other place for her to go. Her sole remaining family won't take her, and conspires to get the grandmother's house, leaving Ruth with no alternatives. We could see how she deals with her fellow patients in the home, how she deals with her illness, and how she fights to get back her house. If the writers gave us a story of a real struggle then it would be a film that means something. Instead the writers took the easy way with clichéd villains, badly written characters, and a ridiculous story. Could have been much better.

This is a nice movie, some scenes are a little long, but it's not annoying. In this movie, Ruth's grandma dies. Ruth is an MS-patient and her family takes her to a home for mental and physical handicapped people. At first, she does not like the home, but she finds her way there and makes some new friends. The movie has a good story. It's definitely one to watch if you like drama movies.

This movie stars Samantha Mathis and shows the life of someone with MS who is sent to a nursing home after her grandmother dies. Her grandmother had been her care-giver up to that point. It shows the emotional problems that someone in this situation would face because they can still THINK for themselves, but are not physically sufficient any longer. Ruth (Samantha) has to learn to deal with the others around her in the nursing home and ends up with several friends (blind guy, mentally slow roommate, brain damaged singer, and others). She not only learns how to deal with others, but helps them learn to move forward with their lives too.

It was a good movie that touches on a subject that most of us do not like to think about and Samantha gives a good performance. Her co-stars are Jonathan Silverman, Marlee Matlin, and Natalie Cole.

Today, people like them would be put in an assisted living situation or some other situation. The idea is always to strive for the most normalized environment-the environment closest to what other people experience everyday---even if they were on SSI or if money was an issue. There are actually few institutions like that left--those that are look very little like that hospital.

The fact that the main character was over 18 makes it even harder to believe because if she did not want to live there then there is no way they could make her stay.

IT WASN'T A MOVIE I WATCHED - IT WAS SOME PEOPLES LIVES I SAW! I think Freak City is an amazing movie. All the actors made their absolutely best. How easy is it to act someone who is so completely different? That question been made up in my mind during the time I saw the film. It is after a movie like this you can see which people who are good actors or not. An actor I think is really great in the film is Peter Sarsgaard as Cal. I think his role is really difficult to play. He made a fantastic job in the movie and he is very real and believable. I recommend this movie to all kind of persons. The movie is even funny in some scenes. I think the film would be seen by more people in the world, it is really a GREAT movie.