Review of The Human Race (2013) by Jen J — 17 Jan 2014

The Human Race is a unique film with an interesting plot: abduct 80 people of varying backgrounds and put them in a rat-like maze. The object? The win, of course. If you get lapped, you die--not exactly good news for the old or out of shape group.

The Human race has a quick pace, but lacks edge of your seat tension. Even as the numbers whittle down, I found that I hadn't really grown attached to any one of the characters.

I gave this film 3 stars for the original concept, but took away 2 due to the horrible representation of the Deaf couple--which receive a substantial amount of screen time. It was apparent that the actors were not actually Deaf which was a disappointment considering the thousands of talented Deaf actors that would have been available to cast. In addition, the credibility of their performances would have skyrocketed. The camera angles were frustrating (even when they were standing stationary) and was hard to read the signs. It should also be noted that despite what many hearing people may think, not all Deaf people dream of being able to hear. In my 25 years as a certified ASL interpreter (and parents, a sister, aunts, uncles cousins, etc., whom are all Deaf) I can assure you that of the ones that I know, very few would place being able to hear as one of their dying wishes. One last thing, just FYI, not all Deaf people read lips and for the ones that do, they can't read them when your back is turned to them. Yeah, that doesn't work.