Pela Vida do Meu Filho

The movie moved and touched my soul to see a youth being treated and healed in a good way from epilepsy. I have had seizures since the age of 2 from being hit by a car and now I'm 25. I am currently on medication since I was 18 and only had one seizure due to stopping my medication once, otherwise medication is controlling them but not getting totally rid of the seizures. My parents never treated me in any kind of way for my condition, they just let me have seizures. I feel so scared and helpless that the diet may not work for me after all these years. Wish I had the help and support, I just leave it all up to God.

God Bless

Jacklyn Wells

Beautifully acted by Meryl Streep and the rest of the cast, this film is based on a true story of a mother who defied the medical profession to get her son on the ketogenic diet at Johns Hopkins.

Due to the tremendous lobbying power of the AMA in this country, alternative treatments are not recognized here the way they are in Europe and in other countries. Yet people often have to be subjected to harmful, and often unhelpful medications. One hears a lot about animal experimentation - in the end, the guinea pig is always the human patient, as doctors "try out" drug cocktails and new drugs on patients who suffer horrible side effects from them, as did the child in this film.

I won't give away the twist at the end of the film, but watch it clear to the end and you'll get a marvelous surprise.

I can't count how many times I have watched this movie! I never get tired of it! The acting is so good it's easy to become emotionally involved. Not to mention the fact that it's based on actual events! Observe the wonderful performance by Seth Adkins! If you like him in this, you HAVE to check out "When Andrew Came Home"!

Initially when I saw this movie on Amazon I was skeptical of buying it, I thought it would be that sort of a lame family struggle film, however this is not the case.

When her son is diagnosed with epilepsy, Lori Reimuller (Meryl Streep), tries to deal with it, taking every measure that she can. After researching epilepsy she discovers the ketogenic diet, a miracle cure? or a unfounded treatment that is a pipe dream? This is a terrific film with wonderful performances from all, I would recommend this film to anyone who has or knows of someone with epilepsy. I myself had it (although this was a mild form that I grew out of). I was never aware of the ketogenic diet.

While I could go on about this film more, simply put it was a must see for everybody, not just for the ketogenic diet but also for awareness of epilepsy in general.

This was a pleasant surprise from Jim Abrahams, better known for his work on the Zucker Brothers' movies (Airplane!, The Naked Gun). The point is, however, that this movie is probably a good example of cinematic drama if I've ever seen it. 4*s.