CODA (2021)

I loved and Jack really liked this Oscar bait about a talented singer, a hearing Child of Deaf Adults (CODA), who joins her high school choir. It should be nominated (Tuesday) for its terrific performances, emotional script, wonderful music, and magnificent location photography. Here's my running list of selected nominations and awards so far.

Emilia Jones spent nine months taking voice lessons (A+), as well as learning American Sign Language and the operation of a professional fishing trawler, to flesh out her title character of Ruby. Most of us know Marlee Matlin can act and she doesn't disappoint as Ruby's mother Jackie. As Ruby's father Frank, Troy Kotsur is a marvel. Keep alert while they're communicating so you can both read the captions and watch their movements. They both, in case you didn't know, are truly deaf, as is Daniel Durant, who plays their elder child Leo.

Eugenio Derbez, as the choir director, is so good. His character Mr. V is demanding of his students but funny. Ferdia Walsh-Peelo is sweet as Ruby's crush Miles, also a gifted singer, and Amy Forsyth has some good lines as Gertie, Ruby's only friend.

Director Sian Heder adapted the screenplay from the French movie La Famille Belier (2014), which was written by Victoria Bedos, Stanislas Carré de Malberg, Éric Lartigau, and Thomas Bidegain. Apparently not all of the deaf characters in the original were portrayed by deaf actors, so Ms. Heder got it right this time.

Marius de Vries provides the original score, which is included in this soundtrack album on Apple Music as well as songs performed by Jones, Walsh-Peelo, and the CODA ensemble.

The movie takes place and was shot mostly in Gloucester, on the north shore of Massachusetts, by cinematographer Paula Huidobro. 

Walsh-Peelo was last blogged for Sing Street, Forsyth for The Novice, Heder for Tallulah, and de Vries for Kick-Ass. Jones, Kotsur, and Durant are new to me.

Matlin won the Best Actress Oscar for Children of a Lesser God (1987) and is known for a lot of TV work, including Picket Fences, The West Wing, and The L Word. I've seen previews of several of Derbez' projects (mostly comedies), including an Apple TV series called Acapulco, so I recognized his face. Huidobro shot Tallulah as well as some TV I've seen, including a few episodes of Insecure, Barry, and Physical.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are singing praises, averaging 96 and 93%.

So glad we finally watched this, February 1, on our Apple TV. Apparently Apple TV won a bidding war against Netflix, Amazon, and Searchlight, buying the world wide rights for a record $25 million. Here's a link explaining how to watch it if you don't have an Apple TV device.