“I’m not a doctor. I haven’t been to medical school; I haven’t even been to high school.” – Homer Wells
Number of Times Seen – Between 5-10 (Theater in 2 Mar 2000, DVD, 6 Aug 2013)
Brief Synopsis – A young man who grew up in an orphanage in New England decided to leave and see the world.
My Take on it – This movie was great!
I don’t really have a stance on abortion, but this movie tackles the theme of illegal abortions in the 1930’s and 1940’s.
It’s hard to actually say what made the movie so interesting to me. I liked that the story was told from the viewpoint of an innocent young man and we discovered truths thru his own eyes and it made everything smoother to digest. The themes of this movie are very heavy, but since we see it all via Homer, we understand them from an amazingly innocent point of view.
Michael Caine was amazing as the head of an orphanage/ gynecologist who only wished to bring children happiness via adoption or via acceptance of their own lives as an orphan. He deservingly won an Oscar for this role [this was his second Oscar win as Best Supporting Actor, he previously also won for Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)] and he truly is a great actor.
The rest of the cast is also great; Tobey Maguire, Delroy Lindo, Charlize Theron, Kathy Baker, Jane Alexander and Paul Rudd.
Eventhough it also won best adapted screenplay (John Irving adapted his own novel for the screen), this movie didn’t have a chance at wining the big one since it came out in a year where there was heavy competition for Best Picture. American Beauty (1999) (the ultimate winner), The Green Mile (1999), The Sixth Sense (1999) and The Insider (1999).
All 5 are truly great movies and it is one of the few years where all 5 BP nominees would have been worthy of the Best Picture Statue. 1994 was another of those rare years when Forrest Gump (1994) won over The Shawshank Redemption (1994); Quiz Show (1994), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Bottom Line – Great heartwarming movie seen from the eyes of an innocent young man. Highly recommended!
Rating – Oscar Worthy
MovieRob 
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