Sympathy for Delicious

...about society, faith, healing industry. great work of a good actor who proofs his director skills, for first time. a film about the other. the appareances, the interests, the fame, the show, the compromises, the gift and its price. at first sigh, one of the most inspired Christian films. in fact, a beautiful pledge for a careful [erspective about life. a curagious film. and, in same measure, an useful one.

The title makes no sense unless you know the main character's DJ name is "Delicious D". With this, there should be little confusion as one watches Sympathy. Sympathy for Delicious is well-respected actor, Mark Ruffalo's (The Kids Are All Right, Zodiac, Shutter Island) directorial debut and it was penned by one of his long-time friends who happens to play D (Christopher Thornton, a paraplegic who wrote the screenplay because of the lack of roles available to him in Hollywood).

D was an up-and-coming music DJ in the rock world of SoCal until he is injured and finds himself confined to a wheelchair ... the story begins after this has happened and we find D living out of his car on Skid Row where he comes to the attention of a local priest played by Ruffalo. After a chance encounter with a fellow homeless man suffering from both gout and Alzheimer's, D finds out he has been given a Divine gift and can miraculously heal others (but alas ... he is unable to heal himself).

Upon this discovery, the priest briefly puts Delicious to work doing God's will ... until D gets it into his head that he should be making TONS of money for healing others and so he makes a name for himself with the help of an odd rock band that decides to cash-in on his abilities. Orlando Bloom (Lord of the Rings, Elizabethtown, Haven) and Juliette Lewis (Conviction, Cape Fear, Strange Days) play fellow band mates while Laura Linney (The Truman Show, Kinsey, You Can Count on Me) co-stars as their icy and conniving manager who readily admits to exploiting their Divine find. By making such a public, high-profile spectacle of himself and telling everyone he's only doing everything for $$$ ... D opens himself up to all kinds of scrutiny (and he isn't up to the task of taking it all in). It doesn't help that his lone friend in the band, Lewis, sees him as a sell-out which causes things to spiral out of control. And, well, BAD things happen ...

I didn't believe much of what unfolds on screen (I allowed myself to buy into this premise ... but come on) which makes THIS story that much harder to accept. My primary problem: if there are some major stretches taken early-on, why is there no leeway later in the film when the "stretching" should still be allowed?! Sympathy wanted to "have it both ways" for dramatic effect which is simply the error(s) of screen writing 101 I am sure.

This is a VERY difficult story to make humorous (the film is classified a "comedy" on IMDb). I viewed it as much more of a tragedy as it is a film about some VERY lost individuals; but I am sure some might find it funny/hilarious (I didn't ... laughing at an actress pretending to have cerebral palsy isn't laugh-out-loud funny). Sympathy for Delicious has some good moments and it is a promising debut from a new director; but the subject matter is simply too tricky. Had it presented/sold itself differently from the outset, I might have viewed it differently ... but there is a bit too much ultimate trite-ness here for me to appreciate (not to mention D isn't very LIKE-able -- which, in turn, makes the film difficult to like as well).

"Listen please, you don't know what you did, you got the healing touch." After being shown the power of faith healing, Delicious decides to use what he has learned to become a world famous DJ. When fate steps in and allows him to heal everyone's problems but his own he must decide if he will use his gift for someone else. This is not a bad movie at all. Without being in your face with it, this is a fairly religious movie. This also presents a great question. If you had the power to help everyone but yourself could you do it or would you be to jealous? Great acting by everyone makes this an enjoyable movie to watch. Orlando Bloom is great in a wide departure from what he usually does. The fact that the lead actor is actually paralyzed gives his performance a dimension that would be lacking if the actor was only pretending. This is a pretty slow moving movie, but very much worth watching. Overall, a very good movie filled with great acting. This is another movie you must be in the mood for though. I liked it. I give it a B-.

Would I watch again? - I don't think I would

I was able to attend the premier at Sundance this year, and let me begin by saying, this movie riveted my senses. With strong performances by the cast, especially writer and star Christopher Thornton, the movie worked it's magic. I sat in awe near the front row, as Mark Ruffalo, the director, got on stage before the film began and gave a brilliant opening speech. Then the room grew dark and the movie started.

I'm writing this from the New Frontier located on main street, Park City. Two hours after the film ended, and yet i still find it hard to clear my mind of "Sympathy for Delicious." After the film finished and the audience gave a standing ovation, Mark, Christopher, and a large portion of the crew, climbed on stage to answer our questions.

Among the many questions answered, was the story of how it all began. Mark began by saying how he had been best friends with Christopher for the past twenty years, how they had studied together as actors in New York, and about Christopher's tragic accident seventeen years ago that rendered him a cripple. Then Christopher took the mike and told us of Mark's pressuring him into writing a movie based on his own character and experiences. This began a ten year trek to getting the film made. The numerous rewrites and financial difficulties it went through were astounding, yet they persevered and finally succeeded in making a masterpiece.

If you haven't yet viewed this movie you're missing out on something great. Not only does it supply emotionally gripping characters but also a wholly original script. And let's not forget Mark's directing, which in itself is a powerful debut.

I saw a screening of this movie at Sundance 2010. I was very impressed with Mark Ruffalo's directorial debut. I told him afterward that it seemed effortless. He laughed and said it was anything but.

Sometimes with first-time directors (though he's had some TV directing experience), there are jarring points that make you realize you're watching a debut. But there were no such moments for me with this movie.

Christopher Thornton, who also wrote the script, was great. He explained after the screening that he developed this with Ruffalo after Thornton complained that there are no good roles for paraplegics.

Though I was told beforehand to expect a dark film, it really has more moments of levity, which Ruffalo said was intentional.

It's a film worth seeing!