Lorenzo's Oil (1992)

A boy develops a disease so rare that nobody is working on a cure, so his father decides to learn all about it and tackle the problem himself. [imdb]

Nominated for 2 Oscars:

Best Actress: Susan Sarandon
Best Original Screenplay

This is the last performance I needed to see for my other blog's Best Actress 1992. I've always had a feeling that I had already seen this film. I had seen parts of it on tv and, let's be honest, most of them are all the same so you're left with a sensation of familiarity. And Lorenzo's Oil is no big exception. It actually has a striking television feel to it; I've written some tv screenplays and this one needed a bit more edge to justify the cinema release.

The first 20 minutes are hard to sit through. Two negative elements hit you right from the start: first, the overuse of classical music, which is way way way too much in the beginning, it shows they's trying to hard to impress and made me curious what was the director thinking?! Second, Nick Nolte's HORRIBLE italian accent! The Razzie people should've done something about it!

Susan's performance is good and above the material. Even though it's a true (and really remarkable) story, the roles are clichés. There isn't that much for her to do except cry when she's needed, keep a balanced performance, show some anger and elevate the emotional moments. For sure, it deserved the nomination, but a win for such a thin role would've been too much.

My rating for the film: 6.5/10. It's an impressive story and an ok & rather predictable film.