Review of Lorenzo's Oil (1992) by Michael D — 21 May 2008

"Lorenzo's Oil" walks a very thin, but inevitable, line between false sentiment and true adoration. It could have steered to the left side of that line and fallen into that barrel of movies that takes sickness--takes children--and uses them as means to bring an audience to tears. However, it, very eloquently, rightfully, and beatifully stayed clear of that pit and remained drenched in realism and pure, hearty LOVE for its characters--not tear-jerking exploitation, and THAT is why Lorenzo's Oil exceeds to such a triumphant extent.

The story tells the heartbreaking, but true story of a family whose young son, Lorenzo, begins experiencing very negative changes in his quality of life. It is later discovered he has ALD, a disease that nearly destroys his young life by the age of 12.

Susan Surandon has quickly become one of my favorite actresses of all time. Her abililty to portray any character she's given flawlessly is beyond incredible, and thus, she has rightfully been nominated for Best Leading Actress five times by the Academy (including for Lorenzo's Oil.) Everything she does--from Rocky Horror Picture show, to Thelma and Louise, to Romance and Cigarettes, to Lorenzo's Oil is carefully tailored perfectly, and her performance here is nothing short of a revelation. I can't say the same about Nick Nolte, whose proposterous accent almost got in the way of my five-star review, but his accent isn't revolting--it's just a bit unexpected, but it endures throughout the movie, so at least it remains consistent in its mediocracy. The film is perfectly written and directed, and features one of the best endings to a movie I've seen in quite a long time.

In conclusion, "Lorenzo's Oil" is a brilliant film--in remaining close to the true story that inspired it, it never pulls its punches or begs its audience to feel for its characters. The actors do that successfully enough--it is through their portrayals that we, as an audience, begin to love and adore each and every character in this movie, and it is through that that we endure the film, and make it through, twice the people we were when it first started with Lorenzo as a happy, playful boy, just flying his kite innocently, in Africa.