In this virtual era, it goes without saying that much of the communal aspect of a film festival has evaporated. Strangers don’t compare notes waiting inline or with their neighbor before a film begins. Reactions are confined to social media or you’re favorite message thread. And for Sundance, a festival that can launch a film into the stratosphere after one glorious world premiere, the loss of in-person screenings is even more painful. That being said, if there is any film that would elicit a buzzworthy standing ovation in both Park City’s gigantic Eccles Theater and in viewer’s living rooms it’s Sian Heder’s “CODA,” which was part of a slate of films to open the 2021 edition of the fest on Thursday.
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Adapted from the 2014’s European hit “La Famille Bélier,” Heder’s version swaps out the farms of the French countryside for the fishing boats of Gloucester, Massachusetts, a hop skip and a jump from another familiar cinematic seaport, Manchester by the Sea. The set-up is pretty similar, though. Ruby (Emilia Jones, stellar) is a high school senior torn between working with her father Frank (Troy Kotsur) and older brother Leo (Daniel Durant, more please) on their fishing boat and her unspoken love of singing. Complicating matters is that the rest of her family are deaf and she has spent almost her entire life as their only translator to the hearing world. Without Ruby’s assistance, her mother Jackie (Marlee Matlin, superb) cannot fathom how her father’s small fishing business could survive. College? Please. Out of the question.
Another road opens up for Ruby, however, when she decides to join her crush, Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) in the school’s show choir. That’s where a colorful music teacher, Mr. Villalobos (Eugenio Derbez), discovers that Ruby has a singing voice that needs to be heard outside this small town. With new government fishing regulations putting Frank and Leo under financial pressure, Ruby finds herself torn between helping her family and auditioning for the prestigious Berklee College of Music.
It becomes pretty obvious early on that “CODA” is one of those movies where you know where the story is going pretty much the entire time, but the elements harmonize so beautifully it still sucks you in. Heder, who wrote the screenplay and directed, deserves a ton of praise for pulling this off with the strings showing, but she might deserve even more credit for her casting ability (obviously, credit also goes to casting director Deborah Aquila). It’s the exceptional chemistry of the actors along with a rarely seen and welcome portrayal of the deaf community that carries the movie through its predictable beats. It also turns out that Jones, sporting a shockingly good American accent for an English born actor, can actually sing her heart out exactly when the film needs it.
Heder also made the smart and authentic choice to cast actors who are hearing-impaired to play Ruby’s family. The trio of Kotsur, Durant, and Matlin inhabit their roles wonderfully and their comedic timing is shockingly good (it’s also slightly horrifying to realize that Matlin hasn’t had a role this good in decades, but that’s a subject for another day). You almost want a sequel just to see them all work together again.
In truth, however, the film’s not-so-secret weapon might by Berbez, but only if you don’t recognize him from his work in films such as “Batteries Not Included” and “Dora and the Lost City of Gold.” The popular Mexican actor has often been relegated to comedies and here gets a chance to stretch his wings with a character that could have been relegated to an over-the-top caricature. Instead, Derbrez finds a way to ground Ruby’s pestering foil even during the movie’s inevitable montages.
You may sense a slight hint of trepidation about “CODA” in this review, but that’s not the intention. This is simply one of those films where it’s hard to elicit praise without regurgitating a slew of embarrassing pull quotes that will find themselves into the movie’s eventual marketing materials. But good luck not shedding a tear not once, but two or three times in the film’s final act. Yes, it’s a feel-good tearjerker that pushes all the right buttons! You’ll laugh! You’ll cry! It’s a movie you and mom can love! You might even search for a Joni Mitchell song on Spotify afterward!
Sigh. Well, we tried. [B+]