The Waterdance

Author Joel Garcia (Eric Stoltz) is paralyzed after a hiking accident. Anna (Helen Hunt) struggles to choose between her husband and her affair with Joel. Les and Rosa (Elizabeth Peña) are his physical therapists. Other patients include brash womanizer Raymond Hill (Wesley Snipes) trying to reconnect with his family, Victor (Tony Genaro) with a large Latino family, and racist biker Bloss (William Forsythe) looking to sue with his mother (Grace Zabriskie)'s help. Each has trouble dealing with their lives.

Stoltz is restricted physically but performs masterfully. Raymond and Bloss are pretty broad characters. They needed to be toned down slightly. There are some compelling elements. I like Stoltz's take but not everything else is working. The motel room scene is devastating but Helen Hunt probably needs more screen time to show her life with her husband. The material has some greatness but I don't think it's all there.

I flipped by this movie on late night cable and was compelled to watch it. It was about 1:00 am on a work night but I could not bring myself to turn off the TV and go to bed (I am so glad I did not.) I would have to rank this movie in my personal top 5. In spite of its obvious low budget, the story line and the actors/actresses portrayals of their characters is outstanding. I was deeply moved by the compassion of Hunt's character. It is a shame that this movie was released in '92 as it could well be a Box Office smash with today's media promotion. 2 Thumbs to the cast and crew of this masterpiece.

This was one of those films I probably never would have picked off the shelf , but it came on IFC one day and I said - Eric Stolz, William Forsythe...why not? If I'd changed the channel, I would have really missed a treasure.

The subject is depressing - young author paralyzed in climbing accident convalesces in lower-class rehabilitation center. It would have been so easy and tempting to make this a manipulative tear-jerker. But, that doesn't happen because it was written by Neal Jimenez, after he himself was accidently paralyzed. No Hollywood happiness here. All of the patients in the ward come from wildly different backgrounds, but they share a feeling of helplessness, of being at the mercy of others. Stolz is very good as a "lone wolf" type, forced into embarrassing dependence on his girlfriend (Helen Hunt); Wesley Snipes is fine as a former ladies' man whose family is falling apart; but William Forsythe takes the cake as a tough guy determined to make someone pay for taking away his independence.

See this film.

THE WATERDANCE (1992) ***1/2 Eric Stoltz, Helen Hunt, Wesley Snipes, William Forsythe, Elizabeth Pena, Grace Zibriskie. Excellent character study of a young author's freak paralyzing accident opens his eyes to the challenges life truly offers despite the limitations. Ensemble work at its finest and inspired in part autobiography of co-director Neal Jiminez' fate( he co-directed with Michael Steinberg).

Eric Stoltz, Wesley Snipes and William Forsythe play three very different men brought together into a hospital ward after each of them has received a paralyzing injury. This is a great film based on the true life experiences of writer/co-director Neil Jiminez. This isn't your typical, sappy, uplifting film about men overcoming personal tragedy. The characters here aren't idealized. They aren't saints. They are alternately angry, confused, prejudiced, self-pitying or funny: in other words, real human beings. This is perhaps the best film ever about men in wheelchairs, but don't let that image scare you. This film is both funny and poignant. Don't miss it.