Les secrets du silence

I thought this was a great made-for-tv movie. Although they probably could have cut down on the running time by about 30 minutes, the movie was still good. Matthew Modine, Tom Skerrit, James Earl Jones, and Judith Ivey all delivered great performances. I give it 4 stars. It's good family entertainment.

All you have to do is sit back and observe what is going on in the town and you can identify with Sammy and get in on the plots going on around him. His faking it is a great deal more believable than much of what is on the tube these days. Quit trying to make more of it than was meant.

The real bonus here is the stellar cast! Not a bad one in the bunch!! Judith ivey always seems like your best friend. Peters was hilarious in The Jerk. JEJ was amazing in strangelove, star wars, lion king, and so many others. This film is listed as a comedy, but it sure starts out pretty dark! When a small boy is separated from his mother on a bus trip, he grows up in the town at the end of the route. But he decides to pretend to be deaf and mute, as it has helped him recently. Will he ever feel comfortable enough to talk freely? He has learned many secrets, large and small, by acting deaf and mute all these years. This was ten years after modine made full metal jacket. Good stuff! But it aint no comedy! Directed by john harrison. Has won a TON of film fest awards.

I saw this on TV one night and fell in love. Matthew Modine plays Sammy Ayers(the adult) who as a child is left alone on a bus after his mother is murdered. He arrives in a small Georgia town and sits quietly all day waiting for his mother arrive. The people in town then determine that he's deaf and mute. As an adult he does odd jobs for all the people in town, all the while listening to everything everyone tells him, including secrets! Jake Weber plays Tolliver Tynan, Tallasses(Sammys love interest)brother and the source of all Sammys trouble. Tom Skerritt stars as Norm, owner of the bus depot and a sort of father figure to Sammy. James Earl Jones also stars as Archibald Thacker, a rum runner who knows a thing or two about some of the secrets in the town. As one of the big secrets threatens the town Sammy struggles with what to do. A great story and wonderful acting make this a movie I would recommend to anyone.

For me, Hallmark Hall of Fames are like the Super Bowl, the main event is nice to watch, but the commercials are the real reason to tune in. What can I say, I like cheez. However, "What the Deaf Man Heard" is a rare exception. This is a movie that captured my attention. I laughed, I cried, it was better than CATS. I don't believe it's on video, but CBS plays it again every so often. Check it out.