CODA
Academy Award × 3
Rent/Purchase
As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents.
What critics thought
CODA lands well with most critics, who respond warmly to its cast — Emilia Jones and Troy Kotsur in particular — and to its genuine immersion in Deaf family life. The central fault line is whether Sian Heder's screenplay transcends its formulaic structure or simply executes it very pleasantly; enthusiasts find the sincerity and specificity disarming, while skeptics see a film that plays every safe card available and never takes a real dramatic risk.
“Coda is a mostly likable concoction, but one that's just too formulaic and ultimately rather calculated to secure the emotional response it so desperately wants by the big finale.”
Benjamin Lee·The Guardian
“CODA faithfully works its way through a checklist of tropes from high school comedies, disability dramas, musical-prodigy and inspiring-teacher narratives, coming-of-age tales about young people struggling to declare independence from overbearing families and indie chronicles of blue-collar America.”
Jon Frosch·The Hollywood Reporter
“It's not that Heder doesn't embrace the aforesaid conventions for all their comforting worth — she does. But by twisting the formula and placing this recognizable story inside a new, perhaps even groundbreaking setting with such loving, acutely observed specificity, she pulls off nothing short of a heartwarming miracle with her film.”
Tomris Laffly·RogerEbert.com
“Heder's script makes every easy and rigged choice available, reducing far too many of the family dynamics to the level of a bickering sitcom.”
Tim Robey·The Telegraph
“An openhearted embrace of deaf culture elevates this otherwise conventional tale of a talented teenager caught between ambition and loyalty”
Jeannette Catsoulis·The New York Times
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Music
Cast & Crew
DirectorSian Heder
StarringEmilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Eugenio Derbez, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo
ComposerMarius de Vries
CODA
Academy Award × 3
As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family's fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents.
What critics thought
CODA lands well with most critics, who respond warmly to its cast — Emilia Jones and Troy Kotsur in particular — and to its genuine immersion in Deaf family life. The central fault line is whether Sian Heder's screenplay transcends its formulaic structure or simply executes it very pleasantly; enthusiasts find the sincerity and specificity disarming, while skeptics see a film that plays every safe card available and never takes a real dramatic risk.
“Coda is a mostly likable concoction, but one that's just too formulaic and ultimately rather calculated to secure the emotional response it so desperately wants by the big finale.”
Benjamin Lee·The Guardian
“CODA faithfully works its way through a checklist of tropes from high school comedies, disability dramas, musical-prodigy and inspiring-teacher narratives, coming-of-age tales about young people struggling to declare independence from overbearing families and indie chronicles of blue-collar America.”
Jon Frosch·The Hollywood Reporter
“It's not that Heder doesn't embrace the aforesaid conventions for all their comforting worth — she does. But by twisting the formula and placing this recognizable story inside a new, perhaps even groundbreaking setting with such loving, acutely observed specificity, she pulls off nothing short of a heartwarming miracle with her film.”
Tomris Laffly·RogerEbert.com
“Heder's script makes every easy and rigged choice available, reducing far too many of the family dynamics to the level of a bickering sitcom.”
Tim Robey·The Telegraph
“An openhearted embrace of deaf culture elevates this otherwise conventional tale of a talented teenager caught between ambition and loyalty”
Jeannette Catsoulis·The New York Times
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Music
Cast & Crew
DirectorSian Heder
StarringEmilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Eugenio Derbez, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo
ComposerMarius de Vries
Rent/Purchase