My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown (1989)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Jim Sheridan

Writers:

Shane Connaughton (screenplay) &
Jim Sheridan (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 November 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

A film about life, laughter, and the occasional miracle.

Plot:

The story of Christy Brown, who was born with cerebral palsy. He learned to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.

Plot Keywords:

Cerebral Palsy | Irish | Author | Poet | Painter

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Daniel Day-Lewis	...	Christy Brown
Brenda Fricker	...	Mrs. Brown
Alison Whelan	...	Sheila
Kirsten Sheridan	...	Sharon
Declan Croghan	...	Tom
Eanna MacLiam	...	Benny
Marie Conmee	...	Sadie
Cyril Cusack	...	Lord Castlewelland
Phelim Drew	...	Brian
Ruth McCabe	...	Mary
Fiona Shaw	...	Dr. Eileen Cole
Ray McAnally	...	Mr. Brown
Pat Laffan	...	Barman (as Patrick Laffan)
Derry Power	...	Customer in Bar
Hugh O'Conor	...	Young Christy Brown

Also Known As:

My Left Foot (UK) (short title)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Ireland | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Iceland:L | Ireland:12 (video) | Australia:M | France:Unrated | Peru:14 | USA:TV-14 (cable rating) | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | South Korea:All | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Ardmore Studios - Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Ferndale Films

Trivia:

It is the only film ever to get an A+ rating from Entertainment Weekly.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mrs. Brown is carrying Christy up the stairs she is carrying two of Christy's shoes in her hand but when he goes down the stairs after his mother falls down he has one shoe on again.

Quotes:

[writing a suicide note]
Christy Brown: All is nothing, therefore nothing must end.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Family Guy: Jungle Love (#4.13)" (2005)

Don't feel sorry for this character!

Daniel Day-Lewis' almost impossible performance as a man with cerebral palsy earned him a well-deserved Oscar in 1989 for Best Actor over the heavily favoured Tom Cruise in 'Born on the Fourth of July' and Morgan Freeman in 'Driving Miss Daisy'. The Academy was still riding the wave of awarding Dustin Hoffman a second Best Actor prize a year earlier for his performance as a mentally challenged individual in 'Rain Man' and since Day-Lewis' performance was superior to Hoffman's, the Academy had to recognize him. Day-Lewis probably would have won anyway as his performance was hard to ignore and he had never received any acting nominations from the Academy before this film despite turning in great work in such films as 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' and 'My Beautiful Laundrette.'

As Christy Brown, Daniel Day-Lewis makes his character unsympathetic as he doesn't want you to feel sorry for him. He achieved the great success of being an accomplished writer and artist. Director Jim Sheridan directs the film like a series of home movies that millions want to see.

Brenda Fricker won the Oscar as Best Supporting Actress as Brown's mother and she is the real moral centre of the film and this film proves that Hollywood is capable of choosing small, lesser known films for Oscar consideration and 'My Left Foot' is a film that is uplifting without being sentimental.