Main Cast: John Savage, David Morse, Diana Scarwid, Harold Russell, Amy Wright
Release Year: 1980
Country: US
Run Time: 113 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Richard Donner directed this compassionate tale concerning the daily struggles of handicapped citizens. The film deals with the volatile relationship between Roary (John Savage), who has unsuccessfully tried to kill himself, and the hair-trigger Jerry (David Morse), a basketball player who has no money to pay for an operation to repair his knee. Roary, who has been permanently crippled after jumping off a building, travels an emotional route from being deeply disturbed and embittered to slowly regaining confidence in himself. Helping him along the road to emotional recovery is Louise (Diana Scarwid), a young woman dealing with the handicapped who, in the process, comes to terms with her own limitations. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
It may seem surprising that Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner was at the helm of this small-scale drama, but he and the rest of the principals have acquitted themselves well. The script by the team of then-writer Barry Levinson and Valerie Curtin focuses on a group of handicapped characters who hang out at a local bar, dwelling in particular on the relationship between the crippled Roary (John Savage) and injured basketball player Jerry (David Morse). While this sounds like the stuff of a TV-movie, the edgy characters in the film are viewed without sentimentality. The adversities they must deal with have the feel of real life, and none of them are given amusing tics or superhuman capacities to make them more palatable to the audience. The relationship between the genuinely troubled Savage and Morse, one whose problem is essentially physical and temporary, is sensitively handled and its resolution seems inevitable. Along with the excellent work by these two, Diana Scarwid is quietly effective as the woman Savage becomes involved with and Laszlo Kovacs' fine camera work establishes an atmosphere of moody, low-key intimacy. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
Tony Burton - Lucius Porter; Bill Henderson - Blue Lewis; Stephen Kahan - Burt; Jack O'Leary - Max Willatowski; Bert Remsen - "Stinky"; Pepe Serna - Herrada; Harold Sylvester - Alvin Martin; Arnold Williams - Benny
Credit
Ron Talsky - Costume Designer, Michael Grillo - First Assistant Director, Richard Donner - Director, Michael Grillo - Second Unit Director, Frank Morriss - Editor, John Barry - Composer (Music Score), Charles Rosen - Production Designer, Laszlo Kovacs - Cinematographer, Ivan Strasburg - Cinematographer, R.W. Goodwin - Producer, Mark M. Tanz - Producer, Richard C. Goddard - Set Designer, Boyd Willat - Set Designer, Dick Goddard - Set Designer, Willie D. Burton - Sound/Sound Designer, Valerie Curtin - Screenwriter, Barry Levinson - Screenwriter, David Salven - Executive in Charge of Production, Todd Walton - Book Author
After a failed suicide attempt leaves a man named Roary (John Savage) partially crippled, he finds himself living in a run-down house in Oakland, California. He spends a lot of time at a neighborhood bar, which is full of other disabled people, and becomes best friends with Jerry (David Morse), the barman with a bad leg.
Jerry's luck turns round when a professional basketball player loans him the money for an operation to fix his leg. Once he is fully healed, Jerry goes on to become a basketball star, fulfilling his lifelong dream. However, he abandons his old friends by pretending they never existed.
