CODA

I could complain about how they felt the need to adapt a French movie from years ago... but I am just happy that this story gets to be shared with more people. Lovely story, coming off age, family relations. The resulting movie is a great feat, showing people a world they are not familiar with.

Saw this movie at SUNDANCE 2021. Features great performances all around, but Emilia Jones is going to be a star. Would be awesome to see Troy Katsur get some recognition come awards season as well. The movie is full of heart, made me laugh and made me cry. There were some really beautiful scenes in here and some surprisingly funny ones. The only thing that holds it back is the predictability that comes with abiding by coming of age genre conventions. The pacing also drags a little bit in the middle of the movie. However, the family dynamic here just completely elevates it above normal coming of age fare.

So far the best movie I've watched from the Academy award nominees. Won't be surprised if it gets one! (And.... it did win)

CODA means Child Of Deaf Adults. Imagine being a CODA and a singer.

Imagine not being able to feel the one thing your child is good at, what a weird feeling it can be. The concert scene from the parents' pov had me all teared up.

The movie has right amounts of all the things - laughter, romance, tension in family(you'll relate to this more if you're Asian) and is well directed in so that you never feel disconnected/ disinterested because of a basic story.

CODA is somewhat a similar coming of age story to Little Miss Sunshine and makes you value and support your family more!

Watch this with your close ones and you'll feel the emotions manifold :) P. S. I'm still laughing thinking about the small dog, medium dog, big dog scene!!!

There's nothing wrong with making a predictable and formulaic film, as long as you succeed in producing the emotion and reaction out of your audience. You can see where CODA is going, but it's so effective at what it does. There's a few laugh out loud moments (which I didn't expect) and the 3rd act is just as moving as films like Almost Famous and Sing Street, both movies with similar music/dream themes. There's something about those types of stories that appeal to me more than most people.

9.3/10.

A captivating and heart-warming coming of age story, with a perfect, powerful and earnest performance from Emilia Jones. It does a fantastic job of expressing its themes of family and chasing your dreams, whilst balancing it with some hilarious comedic moments. A definitely must see.