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Title: Sound of Metal (2019)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Riz Ahmed | ... | Ruben | |
| Olivia Cooke | ... | Lou | |
| Paul Raci | ... | Joe | |
| Lauren Ridloff | ... | Diane | |
| Mathieu Amalric | ... | Richard Berger | |
 |
Domenico Toledo | ... | Michael |
| Chelsea Lee | ... | Jenn | |
| Shaheem Sanchez | ... | Shaheem | |
| Chris Perfetti | ... | Harlan | |
| Bill Thorpe | ... | The Man | |
| Michael Tow | ... | Pharmacist | |
| William Xifaras | ... | Michael's Father | |
| Rena Maliszewski | ... | Audiologist | |
| Tom Kemp | ... | Dr. Paysinger | |
|
|
Elan Sicroff | ... | Pianist |
Riz Ahmed and director Darius Marder discuss the extent of their deep preparation, research, and risk in creating their music-drama about a heavy-metal drummer whose life is upended when he begins to lose his hearing.
Keeping at bay his inner demons by devoting himself to art, metal drummer, Ruben, has been living for the moment for the past four years. Then, while on tour with his lead-singer/girlfriend, Lou, Ruben realises that his hearing is rapidly deteriorating. As this sudden hearing loss turns his world upside down, and numbing fear paired with angry denial take over, Ruben reluctantly accepts to join a small deaf community overseen by Joe, a compassionate Vietnam War veteran. Now, Ruben needs to find some solid ground, understand that being deaf is not a handicap and that deafness isn't something to fix. But, is Ruben willing to accept his new life and learn how to be deaf? Written by Nick Riganas
Riz Ahmed is one of those actors, you simply cannot take your eyes off. It's not solely because of his good looks. He's always intense and, most importantly, he always makes you care about the characters he's portraying. In this case, he portrays a rock drummer who is losing his hearing.
As with most of his roles, he more than did his homework. Ahmed moved to Brooklyn for a few months and learned to play drums, he also spent a lot time with people from the deaf community. He showed the same dedication for his Naz Khan role in 'The Night Of', he immersed himself in the character's background. Expect no less from this actor.
Having two partially deaf relatives, I could relate to this film. Especially one relative who refused to learn sign language, they would rather read lips. Thinking of my relatives initially denying their hearing loss, this film really hit home.
Why are people bringing up Riz being Pakistani? With every role, will he continue to be defined by his background? His character was named Ruben, it's assumed his character was Hispanic. Riz can play other nationalities and ethnic groups beyond his own South Asian background. He can certainly pass for Hispanic, especially in this film. When considering Riz for a role, directors and producers should think outside the box.
The ending was extremely effective, but not a surprise at all.
Another excellent performance from Riz Ahmed. A few more films like this and he will finally have earned his Oscar.