The Waterdance

This is a nice surprise. Good actors deliver superbly the tough work they are meant for. They are all people with kinetic problems, recovering from accidents. They have to live with each other - yet they are so different characters.

There is depth in this film. Support, dignity, bitterness, self-sarcasm - yes, the film even dares to be humorous in some parts, and it scores again, without being stupid or anything. Actually this is a great film about a difficult subject, people having to confront a new reality: loss of half body's movements...

This is not another stupid US drama, this has got a heart!

This was one of those films I probably never would have picked off the shelf , but it came on IFC one day and I said - Eric Stolz, William Forsythe...why not? If I'd changed the channel, I would have really missed a treasure.

The subject is depressing - young author paralyzed in climbing accident convalesces in lower-class rehabilitation center. It would have been so easy and tempting to make this a manipulative tear-jerker. But, that doesn't happen because it was written by Neal Jimenez, after he himself was accidently paralyzed. No Hollywood happiness here. All of the patients in the ward come from wildly different backgrounds, but they share a feeling of helplessness, of being at the mercy of others. Stolz is very good as a "lone wolf" type, forced into embarrassing dependence on his girlfriend (Helen Hunt); Wesley Snipes is fine as a former ladies' man whose family is falling apart; but William Forsythe takes the cake as a tough guy determined to make someone pay for taking away his independence.

See this film.

Author Joel Garcia (Eric Stoltz) is paralyzed after a hiking accident. Anna (Helen Hunt) struggles to choose between her husband and her affair with Joel. Les and Rosa (Elizabeth Peña) are his physical therapists. Other patients include brash womanizer Raymond Hill (Wesley Snipes) trying to reconnect with his family, Victor (Tony Genaro) with a large Latino family, and racist biker Bloss (William Forsythe) looking to sue with his mother (Grace Zabriskie)'s help. Each has trouble dealing with their lives.

Stoltz is restricted physically but performs masterfully. Raymond and Bloss are pretty broad characters. They needed to be toned down slightly. There are some compelling elements. I like Stoltz's take but not everything else is working. The motel room scene is devastating but Helen Hunt probably needs more screen time to show her life with her husband. The material has some greatness but I don't think it's all there.

This film never received the attention it deserved, although this is one of the finest pieces of ensemble acting, and one of the most realistic stories I have seen on screen. Clearly filmed on a small budget in a real V.A. Hospital, the center of the story is Joel, very well-played by Eric Stoltz. Joel has been paralyzed in a motorcycle accident, and comes to the hospital to a ward with other men who have spinal injuries. Joel is in love with Anna, his married lover, played by Helen Hunt, who shows early signs of her later Academy-Award winning work.

Although the Joel-Anna relationship is the basic focus, there are many other well-developed characters in the ward. Wesley Snipes does a tremendous job as the angry Raymond. Even more impressive is William Forsythe as the bitter and racist Bloss. I think Forsythe's two best scenes are when he becomes frustrated and angry at the square dancers, and, later, when he feels empathy for a young Korean man who has been shot in a liquor store hold up. My favorite scene with Snipes is the in the roundtable discussion of post-injury sexual options.

The chemistry between Stoltz and Hunt is very strong, and they have two very intimate, but not gratuitous, sex scenes. The orgasm in the ward is both sexy and amusing. There is also another memorable scene where Joel and Bloss and the Korean boy take the specially-equipped van to the strip bar. It's truly a comedy of errors as they make their feeble attempts to get the van going to see the "naked ladies."

The story is made even more poignant by the fact that the director, Neal Jimenez, is paralyzed in real life. This is basically his story. This film is real, not glossy or flashy. To have the amount of talent in a film of such a small budget is amazing. I recommend this film to everyone I see, because it is one of those films that even improves on a second look. It's a shame that such a great piece of work gets overlooked, but through video, perhaps it can get the attention it so richly deserves.

Eric Stoltz, Wesley Snipes and William Forsythe play three very different men brought together into a hospital ward after each of them has received a paralyzing injury. This is a great film based on the true life experiences of writer/co-director Neil Jiminez. This isn't your typical, sappy, uplifting film about men overcoming personal tragedy. The characters here aren't idealized. They aren't saints. They are alternately angry, confused, prejudiced, self-pitying or funny: in other words, real human beings. This is perhaps the best film ever about men in wheelchairs, but don't let that image scare you. This film is both funny and poignant. Don't miss it.