Mask (1985)

I first saw this film when I was about 12 and since that day I have seen it some times. The special thing about "Mask" is the strong characters played by Cher and Stoltz, as well as the good plot and Peter Bogdanovich's direction."Mask" is a lesson for life and shows love, comprehension, patience and dreams are bricks to build a better life. And it is with this base that Florence (Cher) and Roy (Stoltz) go over Roy's deformity and try to carry on with a normal life.

MaskIf inner beauty were important Miss America would have a colonoscopy portion of the show.That is why the deformed student in this drama is having a hard time fitting in.Born with cranial disfigurement Rocky Dennis (Eric Stoltz) wasn't expected to survive. But with the love of his mother (Cher) and her biker gang, Rocky proved medical science wrong. And he'll do it again as his enter junior high.While students initially react poorly to his appearance, Rocky wins them and his teachers over with his humour and intellect. However, his health and his mom's addictions undermine his scholastic achievements. With believable performances, a touching script and remarkable make-up, this true story doesn't pander to the public to get its point of accepting others across. Hopeful, without being pretentious or exploitative, Mask is a bonafide tearjerker.Incidentally, facial disfigurement and scientific brilliance are the leading cause of super-villainy among teenagers. Green Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

Right up front: I had to give the ending away, okay.Some roles are born for actors. The role of Rocky Dennis was most certainly "born" for Eric Stoltz.I once read that actor Eric Stoltz had been cast to play the role of Marty McFly in (yeah, you guessed it) "Back to the Future." But, for whatever reason, Michael J Fox was given the honor instead. Fortunately, all of us now have the honor of seeing Stoltz in this film, which was released the same year. MASK is based on the true story of a young man with a rare facial deformity in which calcium deposits formed on his skull and grew, causing his scalp and face to stretch and become elongated, while putting pressure on his spinal chord, and giving him massive headaches. It's the story of Rocky's struggle to be "normal" and fit in... when he was born to stand out.This is a movie that I will always watch again and again...strictly because of the incredible, endearing performances by Stoltz, as well as Cher,Sam Elliot, and a young Laura Dern.While Rocky is trying to find out who he is, he actually has a bigger problem: his mother. As his school principal points out: (Rocky's mom) "never gives the impression that she cant take care of herself." But it's only an impression. One scene in the film depicts an argument between mother and son. Dishes are shattered and Rocky tells his mother that he hates her going out all the time and coming home wasted. His mother fires back, saying that her son tries too hard to control her life, by strategically placing pamphlets about a "chemical dependency" center around the house. The two go from explosive arguing, to his mother stroking his hair the next morning and telling him to "pick something." Rusty comes home in the wee hours, this time to discover that her son has one of his headaches. No medication is used to help them go away...it's more like visualization. Rocky "picks out" something peaceful and calming in his mind. He describes to his mother what he's seeing (he and his best friend on a boat).The next morning, Rusty makes a promise to her son that she will "cut it down;" a promise that is soon broken when Rocky's grandparents come to visit. The three return from a Dodgers game to find her so wasted that her parents have no choice but to drive back home, leaving Rocky to once again take care of his mother. Rocky decides he needs a break, and takes his school principal up on an offer to go to a summer camp for the blind. This will be a much needed break.This movie's about bikers: their vests, their jackets, their protective loyalty, their fights, their drugs, their motorcycles. The film also depicts a rider being buried with his Harley. The soundtrack brings this to light perfectly, with artists like Steely Dan and Little Richard.Now, this movie also has some alarming inconsistencies... and I am unable to point them out without giving away the film's ending. In fact, I'll start there. Young Rocky succumbs to his illness one night in his sleep, and at the very end, his mother and her now love interest Gar (Sam Elliot) go out to the cemetery to place flowers (and a few cherished baseball cards) at Rocky's grave. On the gravestone, the year of death reads 1980. However, a record of Rocky's death I discovered over the internet had the year of his death listed as 1978, and there was no location of a graveside listed (findagrave.com). Instead, the record reads that Rocky's body was donated to UCLA medical research. Is there a grave somewhere that reads "1980"? I don't know; but the impression given is that we are looking at Rocky's real graveside, which (in the film) reads "Roy L. Dennis". The film also depicts Rocky as being an only a child, but biographies of the famous teenager do reveal that he had a brother. This is mentioned nowhere in the movie. Understandable, since Rocky himself is the main focus, but as to it's biographical accuracy (??)There are also two different versions of this film. One of them depicts the death of one of the characters, Red, (Harry Carey) while the other...does not show us that he died. The original 1985 release lets Red live through the whole story, and there is no burial of the bike with the biker.Then there's the odd issue of different soundtracks (??). The original release, has a rockin' Bob seiger soundtrack (which I personally prefer). The DVD release of the movie (somewhere around 2004) has a Bruce Springsteen Soundtrack instead. The extra's on the DVD reveal that director Peter Bogdanovich had originally wanted a Springsteen soundtrack, and permission had come from Springsteen himself to use his music in the movie. But others who worked on the film decided that Sieger was more appropriate for the story (apparently), and the film was released with a Bob Sieger soundtrack(without Bogdanovich's knowledge).DVD extras also reveal that Bogdanovich and Cher got into continual disputes during filming as to the character of Rusty Dennis. Bogdanovich was said to have not been thrilled with such an edgy, mouthy, portrayal of the boy's mother. But Cher said that having met the real Rusty Dennis, she knew that her portrayal of the character was accurate

Trying to beat the odds in order to live a normal life is always common for certain people. In "Mask", Roy L."Rocky" Dennis, 1961-1978(Eric Stolz) was born with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, a rare cranial bone disease that inflated his head. lives with his biker gang mother Rusty(Cher) and family. She was wild, out of control, and very much a loving mother in the middle. She sees a smart, understanding, and determined young man under that visage. It was great when Rocky told that teen that he would "take off his mask, until he takes off his". It goes to shows that people with disabilities got feelings too. Rocky wanted nothing best but going to Europe, and visit the counties he wanted to go. Had a girlfriend who was blind. But everything took a dive. His friend had decided to live with his divorced father, and his girlfriend went to a blind school in another city. Rusty, his mother was a positive figure in his life. Her strong will, and big heart helped Rocky overcome the obstacles. Only his disease did him in. A strong, heart-wrenching movie, that gives meaning, you can do it! No matter what! 5 stars!