Sundance 2021: "CODA" Review
I was lucky to catch “CODA” on the last day of Sundance. By the time I did, it had already broken records as the highest selling film at the festival at a whopping $25 million. So for me, it was like sipping an expensive pour of bourbon; I had to see what $25 million tasted like! While I ingested it with other senses, the film that focuses on the bond of a deaf family had my eyes pouring out tears and belly full of laughs. In short, the film is worth the hype.
The film is a remake of the 2014 French dramedy “La Famille Bélier”. “CODA” stands for Child of Deaf Adults. Within the film, Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the only hearing member of her family. The Rossis are a hardworking, tight knit fishing family living near the coast of Massachusetts. Ruby works on the boat with her father Frank (Troy Kotsur) and brother Leo (Daniel Durant). She acts as interpreter and intermediary between worlds for her family. Her mother Jackie (Marlee Matlin) is a former model and her father’s passion for his beautiful wife is never not on display, even if it humiliates Ruby.
While Ruby works early morning hours with her father and brother, she attends high school with other teens her age. She decides to take a chance and audition for the school choir, led by Bernardo Villalobos (Eugenio Derbez). Bernardo is a character, stating that you can save yourself the embarrassment and call him Mr. V if you can’t roll your R’s. He’s the exact influence that Ruby needs to motivate her to audition for Berklee College of Music.
The clash of Ruby’s desire to go to college and her family’s need for a no cost interpreter to keep their business running is the center of the conflict in the film. However, it’s the layers of issues within that conflict that makes the film so moving. Each family member wrestles with issues of inadequacy. Leo feels as though he isn’t appreciated enough as the older brother who seems to be looked over by his parents. Ruby feels like an outsider as the one in four who can hear. Her parents depend and lean too much on Ruby for assistance, missing or refusing to see that she needs to breathe and be independent.
The film is full of beautiful, moving, and laugh out loud moments. It spotlights relationships within the family and the family bond as a whole. The ensemble cast is absolutely stellar, boasting of Academy Award worthy performance for all the right reasons. The Rossi family use American Sign Language to communicate throughout the film and thus the physical and subtle nuances of their performances are even more powerful. Director Sian Heder captures the importance of communication within her cinematic family and what communication means for the deaf community through framing and sound.
You’ll have to judge for yourself if this film should be valued at $25 million. Much like bourbon, your taste may be different but there are certain films that universally strike a chord and resonate. “CODA” certainly is a winner that deserves the buzz and accolades it will receive!
Rating: A
