User reviews

This is, for the most part, an excellent film about a Deaf guy who wears hearing aid(s) that takes place in Pacific Grove & Monterey, California. His method of communication is reading lips, no sign language or pencil & paper is used. You follow him and his family that live on 19th street in Pacific Grove. He has a couple of girlfriends that he must choose between, who does he choose? He also has a pest business to run with some local competition. I thought the acting was a bit stiff at times & the film seems to have a 1940's, soft focused, low contrast & washed out feel to it. When watching it in the theatre, a few people screamed out 'focus'. Still, if you want to see how Deaf people live & how they go about life, this is great film to see. It has a lot of humorous moments.

I saw this film as a part of the SCC (Spiritual Cinema Circle) for the December volume. I've got to say, i liked it very much. Now, that is not to say that it was a MASTERWORK FROM A GENIUS FILMMAKER, but it was very, very thoughtful and very insightful. Was it cheezy? Sure. I can only think of 2 films on the SCC that aren't. What i thought was more important is that Eli tried to break new ground on a subject that is a little untouched on for the most part. And even more, i think that in the end, what the filmmaker did at the end of the film was the least stereotypical move i have seen in a good while from a relatively new writer/director.

There will be people who disagree with me on that point but, it is only an opinion. So. At times the acting was a bit student filmish, but, it his first, and, i'm guessing low budget. So, i sympathize there. There were a couple of lines or acting where i rolled my eyes at cliché, but for the most part they were fairly few and far between. My other beef was the framing and focus of some shots and scenes. Again sympathize, it's the dudes first, we can't all be great directors. All in all, good first feature, and definitely worth a view... or two. :)