Best Performance as a Disabled Person

I'm glad you listed that one... I wanted to see it but forgot to add it to my list...

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Ed Norton in "The Score" is my pick. He had me fooled from the start.

Jon Voight in Coming Home

This is true. There's lots of disabled actors out there who must find it continually frustrating to see people playing parts that have their disability.
There was a episode of Frost (the David Jason detective series) shown recently that had a couple of youngsters with Downs Syndrome in the storyline. The lad, Timmy Lang has been in a few features since and very good he is too.

Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder
karloff in the Body Snatcher
Gwyneth Paltrow in Sylvia
Nicole Kidman in The Hours
Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, in which she plays the wife of a mentally disturbed mathematician)
Angelina Jolie in Girl Interrupted
Geoffrey Rush in Shine
Dustin Hoffman in RainMan
Cliff Robertson in Charly
Joanne Woodward in The Three Faces of Eve

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If you re-agranged the topic (best disabled person performing) my best responce would be any movie Adam Sandler is in.

I totally agree!

I was watching Glengarry Glen Ross last night and thought it would have been far better if Foley had cast real salesmen. Same with that Peter Jackson fella - those hairy-feet guys were fake!

Look at all those out of work magicians and who do you see in The Prestige? Two bloody actors. Acting!

My eyes have been opened to Hollywood. It's nothing but a sham with actors getting all the acting parts.

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

Haha. If they cast a real autistic guy iin Rain Man the set would have been a nightmare.

But yeah: MY Left Foot, Diving Bell. Rachel Griffiths in Muriel's Wedding was excellent when she was in a wheelchair.

Nice lists everyone.

Blibb...I agree with you on Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. He was spot on. I've posted before on how I feel about him in this role and a particular scene (the fire alarm scene) so I wont re-hash my feelings. But, he's my favorite.

I still need to see What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

Caity...I still have to see My Left Foot. I'll put it on my 'Q' .

Lines...Freaks...absolutely.

Christine...nice choices. I loved Judi Dench in that role She's an amazing actress. Unfortunately I remember seeing Iris around the time that we were dealing with my father-in-laws' Alzheimers and mother in-laws Dementia and at the time I wanted to see more than was shown. I felt the surface was just sratched on the subject. Maybe I was looking more for a band aid for the emotions I felt at the time. I should watch it again.

I was thinking about Nigel Hawthorne in the Maddness of King George also. He was wonderful.


I's also like to add...

Ronald Reagan in Kings Row as the man who has his legs amputated by a spiteful doctor.

Elizabeth Hartman as blind Selina in A Patch of Blue.

Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois in A Street Car Named Desire.

Gary Sinise in Forest Gump


And for someone temporarly disabled...

Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window

Monty Wooley in The Man Who Came to Dinner...for a lighter side of someone who's broken their leg. The goon.

Steven Robertson and James McAvoy in Inside I'm Dancing

HAha?!
Are you trying to make fun of autistic 'guys'.

Just to warn you...I have a son with high functioning autism/aspergers and know others with varying degrees within the autism spectrum, so my skin is pretty thin when it comes to cracks and jokes about it.

That must've been a difficult film to watch Aniko. It's a subject that can be dealt with in film, but not in depth I guess simply because some things are just too difficult for an audience to deal with. It was a good film though for showing the sadness of a brilliant mind fading away. Jim Broadbent as her husband was fantastic too.

Hey, I didn't know you had a son with Aspergers. My last job as a learning support assistant a few years back was with a boy who had high functioning Aspergers. I worked with him from the age of 11 to 15. Brilliant lad, very clever. At times frustrating, but seeing him taking steps and learning to cope was rewarding for both of us. We had lots of fun too

No, I'm not at all. I'm not autistic or mentally retarded, but I use a wheelchair, so I know what it's like. I wouldn't.

I think things like Rain Man walk a fine line between a excellent portrayal of the mentally ill and 'let's all giggle at the disabled people'. Films with any sort of disability and a humerous slant often make me feel weird.

Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump

seeing as he has Friedreich's ataxia, and has been using a wheelchair for the last five years, not to mention he's got a very odd sense of humor , i doubt he would ever try to 'make cracks' at a person in that light.

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letterboxd

Thanks Christine. Jim Broadbent was wonderful. Watching his reaction to her was so real he got to me. But I agree, it's a tough subject and each case has their differences too. I can understand it would be hard to put only one band aid (so to speak) to fit all wounds. My girlfriend's father had it in an earlier stage in his life, and they went through so much more than what we did.



I'm sending you a PM so we can talk.

Thanks for clearing that up. The use 'Haha' and 'nightmare' is what I was reponding to. It could be read very easily as a 'lets giggle' at the thought of an autistic person acting. I'm sorry if my skin was a little thin. Comes from years of dealing with 'stuff'. Thanks again for clearing it up.

I know what you mean about a fine line with the humerous slant. I usually cringe when I see comedians use Rain Man as a sterotype.

Thanks again Happy.

Seeing as I'm not here much and don't know him or his sense of humor at all...how would I know. Now I do. Thanks.

he's not here much, either. i just didn't want him to be accused of something i knew wasn't true. i get protective at times like these, like a Mama with her cub!

Then perhaps you can understand my Mama Bearness.



Now...back on topic before we hijack this thread...

Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins in Proof. He was wonderful as usual. But, she was also great with coming to terms wirh her dad and living with the fear of also getting it.