Inside I'm Dancing

I don't usually comment on films since I am in the movie distribution business, but I have to say that this is one of my favorite films of all time. The acting is fantastic and the script is even better. There were no cheesy speeches or exploitation of handicapped people to try and make this movie more "Hollywood". James McAvoy is such an outstanding actor, I could not look away from him if I tried. I was impressed with Steven Robertson as well. I cannot believe this is his first real film. Brenda Fricker plays a small role, but as usual, she is outstanding. This is a movie for everyone to see just how lucky we all are. If you like Awakenings and Mask, you will enjoy this story. You owe it to yourself to check this film out.

I saw this film with some friends of mine and i was totally blown away by the magnificent acting and a heart warming (and at times wrenching)script. The characters of Rory and Michael were as different as you could get yet somehow they just worked perfectly together.

I work in a cinema and so have seen many films this year but there is something about Inside I'm Dancing that has completely captured my imagination and I left the cinema thinking about issues that i've never really thought about before and i realized what a good life I have.

In a nutshell if you want a movie to make you laugh, cry, feel happiness, joy, anger and question your life then you have to see Inside i'm Dancing.

I can't wait for the DVD and hope this becomes a classic because it deserves to be.

Michael (played by Steven Robertson) has cerebal palsy, and lives a quiet, and dull, life in Carrigmore Residential Home. When a newcomer to the home, Rory (McAvoy), befriends him, he proceeds to show Michael how to live past the disability. Despite, or maybe because of, Rory's crippling disability (unable to move all but his head and a few digits on his hand), Rory is fiercely independent, and extremely rebellious. His affect upon the quiet and reserve Michael is spectacular, and the two soon leave the care home to set up lives in the outside world, where they recruit the help of Siobhan (Romola Garai) as a care assistant.

This film is one of the gems of the year! Much like last year's In America, the film goes from being extremely funny, to distressing, touching, upsetting, and truly moving without once seeming saccharine sweet. Knowing exactly where to tug at the heartstrings, and where to simply let the story, and characters, do their thing, O'Donnell has crafted a wonderful film which tells us all to look past the surface, and see what lies within.

The true strengths of the film come in the lead actors. So convincing are their characters that you truly do believe that they are disabled. To further manage to convey humor and sorrow on top of the already great performances is amazing. The pair really seem close friends, and as their tale unfolds you care completely for them.

This is definitely one of the finest examples of film this year, telling a very relevant story in a simple way. If this film fails to touch your heart, then you must contain pure ice inside.

What a unique and risky premise: two young men, both mentally astute but almost completely disabled with MS and cerebral palsy, leave the group home environment to get their own place in search of independence, romance and excitement. This is a story of friendship, love, and self-awareness. It has less to do with handicaps than with the development and growth of two unique and memorable characters.

Damien O'Donnell's directing keeps the story moving briskly, but it's James McAvoy as the eponymous Rory O'Shea who steals the show with his bravura performance and riveting screen presence, even though he's only acting with his face and two fingers. Steven Robinson is nearly as good as Michael Connelly, the MS patient who Damien befriends at the home. It really is hard to believe these two fine actors aren't truly paralyzed. (Some of the audience thought they were.) Romola Gorai is the most likable of the bunch (how politically incorrect!) as the blonde the boys meet in a bar and convince to become their paid caretaker.

O'Donnell manages to tell this story with extraordinary grace and humor. In the process, he shatters some of our expectations about the physically handicapped, while never forgetting to entertain us. Thank you, and bravo!

I went along to see this film expecting a run-of-the-mill drama. Instead, I was bowled over by the emotion and the depth of the story and the characters involved. It has made me think a lot more about the problems that disabled people face in everyday life and how the stuff that I worry about is rather insignificant in comparison.

I can't remember the last film I saw that took me through pretty much every emotion possible the way that this one did - I felt happiness, sadness, joy, anger, irritability, sorrow, optimism and many other emotions during the course of the film. I could really feel for Rory and Michael and their optimism to make the best out of life should be such an inspiration to everyone.

To summarise, you must go and see this film - it's fantastic and I can't recommend it highly enough.