Sweet Nothing in My Ear

I was laying in bed last night, scanning channels and came across 'Sweet Nothing in My Ear'. I hit info and up came that Jeff Daniels was starring, so I figured what the hell--five minutes and I had to see it through to the end regardless of how late at night it was.

The portrayal of deaf communication for hearing listeners is fantastic, I loved the voice-over approach because personally I find subtitles distracting and obviously not everyone who watched the film would be able to understand sign language on it's own, so I loved how they tackled that problem, it really broke the barrier, and got across exactly what the characters themselves were trying to say; deaf people are no different nor less able than hearing people!

The acting is great, I was impressed with Jeff Daniels portraying emotion over his son and wife, especially since the last time I had seen him was when he was hanging out with Jim Carrey and driving a Dog-Van!

In conclusion (to my first ever review on here, so be gentle!) I would definitely recommend checking this movie out as it's heart-warming and very eye-opening. 4/5.

Thanks for reading :)

Not usually a fan of Hallmark movies, I decided to watch this one anyways and I fell in love from the get go. I felt that this movie was brilliantly written to include all point of views and it handled touchy matters perfectly.

A overall movie shows the struggle of a deaf mother and a hearing father struggling to decide if a cochlear implant is right for their child and while the mother is against it, the father is for it. They try and see each other's views but have a hard time doing so.

Afraid that this movie would offend some viewers who had some personal experiences similar to the movie, I felt relieved to see how they wrote these matters into the story. While it may make some people ponder and feel uncomfortable, it actually puts it all out on the table and forces the viewer to see all views. It hit the target perfectly. Having an implant myself and still using ASL as my first and primary language, I actually felt comfortable rooting for both sides and hoping they would come to a perfect solution.

I will have to say kudos to this well made movie and not to mention that the cast were brilliant as well. A very well done movie. I had to give it a ten star. Very good intro to those who have no idea about issues that can arise in the deaf community. Great job.

Fabulous film dealing with the problems of the deaf.

A family is almost destroyed by the conflicting parents of a deaf child. The father, who can hear, wants his son to have a cochlear implant and the mother, who is deaf, is against this.

Jeff Daniels is absolutely fantastic as the father. I have followed his career and am always amazed that this fine actor has been relegated to such miserable parts and films since playing Shirley MacLaine's ill-fated son-in-law in the memorable "Terms of Endearment."

Marlee Matlin is a terrific actress and she is in fine form as the mother.

We learn that deaf people have a culture of their own and we see how other children can be cruel to a deaf child.

Many of our deaf people wish to cling to this culture that they feel will be threatened by these implants.

This is definitely a mesmerizing film which is not to be missed.

I feel the movie represented the Deaf and Cochlear Implant cultures pretty much in perspective. I myself had an overwhelming decision two years ago to decide of I really wanted a CI myself. I came to terms in my choices and possibilities, even tho, I lost my hearing at an early age of 3, than a year later in my other ear.

Marlee is a great Actress, she's done things well and the work she performs in movies and television today.

Sweet Nothings In My Ear - tells the story of many deaf and hard of hearing in today's world where technology can replace one's hearing to almost normalcy as it can be. In the past year since my own surgery, I've become accustomed to sounds I remember hearing as a child, my life changed forever, once I told my audiologist to flip the switch on the computer to turn the processor on - 40 years of amazement filled not only mine, but my mother's eyes with tears of a flowing river you've not seen in many years of life.

I still have the residual hearing in my left ear today, I lost all the remaining hearing I had in my right ear, over 10 years ago and I never wore a hearing aid again in that ear, until I had my Cochlear Implant surgery last year and the rest is history in the making. I'm able to hear sounds I've not been able to hear for over 35 to 40 years at such normal ranges of hearing.

The CI itself almost restores one's hearing, but this is as close to what it can get technology-wise to restore one's hearing in a pinch.

Each person that has had the surgery either has an amazing story to tell after years of being silenced by sounds of the past. If it ain't been for my late grandfather's efforts to try to get my hearing restored as I was younger, he'd probably agree with me today, that history was in the making in our family.

The story is powerful enough to compile what families go through wanting them to what's best for their own children, even tho, they may not be at an age to understand what a Cochlear Implant can do, but the benefits are there, as for other's its either a wait and see process for them.

I believe, one day, science will be able to restore one's hearing without the benefits of a cochlear implant - its only a matter of time, when it will happen in the future.

I found the following comment on a popular deaf message board run by Amy Cohen, "Deaf World As Eye See It, Bittersweet History of Sweet Nothing In My Ear" and couldn't agree more:

"The choice to voice-over the signing in the Hallmark Production reminded me of old Disney movies in which you would hear the interior monologue of what the pet dog was thinking. Really, what a poor choice on so many levels. Aside from the insult to the Deaf Community, it just didn't work dramatically at all. It was laughable and it made deaf people feel like lesser people. Wow."

What a shame. 20 years ago CBS, the same network, subtitled an episode of "Beauty and the Beast" which starred Terrylene, a deaf actress, along with nine other deaf actors. It worked wonderfully and received a lot of attention and respect for doing so. How far have we regressed since then? How did the deaf who were involved in this production allow this to happen?

The whole point of the movie is lost when the remarkable beauty of sign language, which arises out of its SILENT- VISUALITY is shamefully undercut by SOUND-VOICES and camera frames that chop off the hands. How much longer will the ignorance continue?