One thing I sometimes avoid are Hollywood bio-pics. This is because rarely do the filmmakers ever allow the real story to come out but instead they embellish the crap out of it because they simply don't trust the truth nor the audience. This is definitely the case with "Mask", a film which is only very loosely based on the later years of Rocky Dennis (Eric Stoltz), a young man with a rare medical condition, Craniodiaphyseal Dysplasia. Instead of just telling his story, they sanitized much of his life and made him inspirational...something very formulaic but which also take away from the guy's humanity. As a father with two disabled daughters, I take exception to this and just wanted to know the real Rocky and his life. What we do have is a nice inspirational film...but not exactly a true portrait (especially when it comes to Rocky's mother).
The story is set in the last year or so of Rocky's life. He's in his final year at middle school and he has many of the typical problems a teen might have in addition to his medical condition. His mother (Cher) is loving and very appropriate in some ways...and a train wreck in many others.
So is it any good? Yes...very much so. Despite playing fast and loose with some of the facts (such as having Rocky NOT being legally blind like he was in real life, never mentioning his brother and much more), the film is enjoyable and will keep your interest. Stoltz is quite nice in the lead (though Cher received top billing). He seemed to be able to do quite a bit as a young actor despite being under tons of makeup and prosthetics. The makeup by Michael Westmore and Zoltan Elek was pretty amazing and earned the Oscar for this category. And, the direction by Peter Bogdonovich was also lovely. No major complaints about anything other than the film taking too many liberties with the facts.
The story is set in the last year or so of Rocky's life. He's in his final year at middle school and he has many of the typical problems a teen might have in addition to his medical condition. His mother (Cher) is loving and very appropriate in some ways...and a train wreck in many others.
So is it any good? Yes...very much so. Despite playing fast and loose with some of the facts (such as having Rocky NOT being legally blind like he was in real life, never mentioning his brother and much more), the film is enjoyable and will keep your interest. Stoltz is quite nice in the lead (though Cher received top billing). He seemed to be able to do quite a bit as a young actor despite being under tons of makeup and prosthetics. The makeup by Michael Westmore and Zoltan Elek was pretty amazing and earned the Oscar for this category. And, the direction by Peter Bogdonovich was also lovely. No major complaints about anything other than the film taking too many liberties with the facts.