The Cure

This is one of the most touching films I had ever watched. No movie has effected me the way this one did. This is a great film and you have to see for yourself. I'm normally impregnable with these sob story movies but this one did it for me. I was in tears at the end. You'll yearn for the friendship that is portrayed in this movie. If I can give this movie a billion stars I could.

The subject of children being terminally ill is difficult and saddening but 'The Cure' successfully portrays the idea that it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom and, if anything, children need to have hope and delight in their lives if they are to find peace before the end. It is also a film of remarkable bonds of friendship and the innocence of childhood.

The film sees Erik, a dysfunctional adolescent boy with a distant mother, moving into a new area where their next-door neighbour is eleven-year-old Dexter, who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion. After his initial fears and ignorance over AIDS are allayed, Erik befriends Dexter and their almost fraternal friendship sees them embark on a journey down the Mississippi to where they have heard about a New Orleans doctor who claims to have found a cure for the disease.

The talent from the two young leads of Brad Renfro and Joseph Mazzello, who play Erik and Dexter respectively, is exceptional. Brad was able to portray Erik's harder edge without comprising the subtle childish innocence inherent to the character while Joseph depicts the sense of vulnerability to Dexter's character but injects the right amount of boyish enthusiasm and zeal to highlight that his illness doesn't mean he still isn't a child who wants to run and play like any other eleven-year-old boy. The pair's interactions create a feel in the audience that these are two boys who are genuinely close and they carry the film well. Annabella Sciorra also delivers a touching performance as Dexter's mother Linda, who adores her son and delights in seeing him thrive with this new friendship to Erik and eventually becomes a surrogate mother-figure to the other boy.

Set against an excellent soundtrack, 'The Cure' is a very bittersweet film that manages to flawlessly weave the story of boyhood friendship that survives unflinchingly in the midst of prejudice and terminal illness without resorting to sappiness or unnecessary saccharine sweet scenes. A very interesting reflection in the film is that is it the adults who have the problem with Dexter's AIDS status whereas the children, even the 'bullies', come to accept him as they would any other. What is also very touching is how, despite Erik's streetwise nature, he is the more naive one in his determination to cure Dexter while the younger boy has this haunting sense that he knows his fate but is swept away by his best friend's enthusiasm for a cure.

I highly recommend 'The Cure' for it is rare to find a film that is simultaneously sad and uplifting.

The Cure is a great movie, the only drawback being the short length. The acting is amazing and the direction is great. Joseph Mazzello (Radio Flyer, Shadowlands) and Brad Renfro (The Client) delivered career best (and still best) performances and Annabella Sciorra (Hand that Rocks the Cradle) was good playing Dexter's (Mazzello) mom.

Here's a film about and enacted by two children. Although there are adults in the film, they are there to add some authenticity, drama and, at times, comedy relief. The younger of the two boys, Dexter (Joseph Mazzello) is dying of AIDS; the older boy, Eric (Brad Renfro), is something of a sociopath. A lad of the South, Eric lives with his divorced mother in an unidentified city in the upper reaches of the Mississippi River (St. Paul, Minneapolis?). His innate hostility coupled with his marked southern accent does little to endear him to his peer group. So Eric is something of an outcast and has few friends...until he meets his next-door neighbor. He and Dexter become fast, though tenuous, friends. The friendship solidifies as the story segues into a quest for an AIDS cure which takes them on a Tom Sawyer trek down the Mississippi River with lots of adventures. One later scene, which will be thought of as emotional and something of a tear jerker, is truly uplifting and brings to the fore the true theme of the film. A first time effort by director Peter Horton, its theme was not one to garner any great box-office success. But it is well worth a video rental. (Brad Renfro, by the way, proves that his brilliant performance in The Client was not a fluke. And he did it without Tommmy Lee Jones & Susan Sarandan).

I remember when this film came out, and watched it a few times on VHS. I was so glad when it was FINALLY released on DVD. I was hoping for widescreen, but at the point would take what was available. I love how they used color in the film, the outdoor scenes are so alive with color. The trees are the greenest I've ever seen. Most of the film was shot in Stillwater, Minnesota, a beautiful town located on the St. Croix River. They must have really scouted locations for filming, because they did a great job. The story is well written, and directed. I would rate this as one of Peter Horton's best. I'm also surprised that Andrew Dintenfass (the director of photography) hasn't done more. He did an incredible job. The acting also rates up there. It's amazing to see two actors of such a young age pull off this type of film. Annabella Sciorra did a great job as Dexter's mother. Who wouldn't want her as a mother.