Purely Joyful Movie!

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Movies so rarely touch the heart, and this one was perfect.

For some reason, perhaps a review I read prior to watching this, I thought this might be an "Awakenings"-type story, so I was enthused about watching it. Well, it's not a tenth as good as "Awakenings" and shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as that fine film. If you read someone comparing the two films, don't believe it. One was intelligent and fascinating; one was stupid and boring.This is just awful. It's about a blind man who temporarily regains his sight, and then loses it again. That sounds interesting but the film, in a nutshell, turned out to be nothing but a long, soap opera with an extremely irritating female lead: Mia Sorvino, as "Amy Benic." Val Kilmer's character, "Virg Anderson," might have lost his sight but Sorvino obviously had lost her brains. What a bimbo! It doesn't help she blurts out OMG every third sentence, which makes her sound even more stupid. Kilmer, meanwhile, should stick with crime movies or westerns. He's very good in those kind of films. He stinks at melodrama. This movie did not need to go over two hours, either.In the end, it's just not a memorable story and it should have been, as "Awakenings" certainly wound up.

Although it is a true story -that's what the final lines tell us ,revealing us what would become of the two characters- the movie resembles a Douglas Sirk melodrama.Of course ,it has not the strength of the great director's magnificent weepies ,but it is ,all in all ,a good melodrama .Mia Sorvino and Val Kilmer give charming performances but the stand-out is for me Kelly McGillis who made the best of another of these supporting parts she's too often relegated to.She portrays a generous sister who sacrificed her life to her blind brother.When he returns to his native town,the reunion with her is probably the best moment of the film.The story has also some Capra accents,notably the scene with the homeless man on the sidewalk.

I have conflicting feelings about different elements of this movie.Great premise. It's uniqueness was what kept me "in the film." -- Val Kilmer: A workmanlike effort to look and act the part, both as a blind man and as recently-sighted person. Forced storyline doesn't give him much time to develop believable reactions to plot elements. -- Mira Sorvino: As beautiful and likable as ever. Nice subtlety to her expressions and inflections helps us suspend our disbelief now and again during the film. -- Supporting cast: Kelly McGillis chews the scenery. Nathan Lane always does a good job, but isn't on screen much. Steven Weber is a bit wooden (again, mostly the script's fault) but manages to be a suitably smarmy ex-husband. -- Camera-work: Most of the scenes are visually rather pretty. Given the challenges of showing the POV of a disoriented, newly-sighted person, not a bad effort -- Plot: Sloppy, with forced emotions, mismatched scenes, unnecessary subplots, and loose ends. -- Dialogue: Horribly contrived and stilted. Lots of unrealistic monologuing. -- Storyline: prior to his operation, most of the plot elements seem lifted from old Longstreet episodes. The small town is completely cardboard. In New York after operation, things are less cliché, more inventive, but still a struggle.OVERALL AVERAGE: 5. Not great. May be worth seeing because of the unique premise, but if you skip it, you're not missing much.