CODA

 

CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) is a coming of age story of a young adult, Ruby Rossi, with a passion for singing. As the only hearing member of her family, she has been a lifelong interpreter for her parents and brother who are deaf. When given the opportunity of a lifetime she has to decide if she will take that next step into adulthood and face the fear that she may be abandoning her family.

The writing was well done and did a great job of helping viewers to understand the humanity in all people, those who are deaf and those who are not. This movie wasn’t about just being deaf it was about family. The character development was so strong that you really understood and connected to each of the characters. Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur and Daniel Durant did a great job at playing Ruby's family, Jackie, Frank and Leo respectively. Troy Kotsur who played Ruby’s dad Frank had the biggest impact on me. I could see why he won the Oscar. He was funny and really likeable. He had such a great connection with his daughter Ruby and his wife Jackie. I honestly felt like Emilia Jones who played Ruby also deserved more Academy attention than what she received. She did an interview where she stated that she didn’t know how to sign nor ever took a formal singing lesson before filming and I can honestly say that I was impressed. She had a beautiful singing voice and was a confident signer.

Overall I was really enjoyed this movie. It was funny, heartfelt and full of great themes about understanding, empathy and independence. This is definitely a movie I would recommend all to check out with a box of tissues.