The Other Sister (1999)

I happen to have a daughter pretty much like Carla. She's been through a huge lot of difficulties all her life, and she never gave up. She's all joy, and love, and innocence, and purity, and strength, and wisdom, pretty much like the character. She's 17 now, next year she'll be graduating from high school at a "regular" school, she's just started a relationship with a boy, and she's so happy... You can imagine how this movie, and especially Juliette's amazing performance, moved me to the core. I watched it last night, and I've been waiting all day for the moment to be able to watch it again. It's a movie I'll treasure, and I sure hope they make a sequel.

"They're not drug addicts. They're not ax murderers. They're not Democrats." Well, that's dad's (Tom Skerritt) assessment of his three daughters: one an underachiever (Sarah Paulson), one a lesbian (Poppy Montgomery), and one developmentally disabled (Juliette Lewis). You can imagine how mom (Diane Keaton) deals with her three daughters and the country club set that they belong to, especially when Carla (Juliette Lewis) wants to get married.It was strangely familiar as I work with the developmentally disabled, and it was a good introduction to their world. I could see a lot of my friends in this movie, especially how they react to things they know, but don't understand, and how they deal with upsets to their world. It was beautiful and touching and I swear I teared up at the end.Dad wasn't such a jerk after all. Towards the end he said something else that was moving and so true: "When you reach a certain age and you're not talking to your children, then you are missing part of the journey." Not bad for a Republican.There were several really touching/funny moments in this film. When Carla asks if they should have some music and he selects a Sousa march, I broke up. (You have to be there.) There was a great song playing after they had one of those arguments that every couple has. I wish I knew the name. And, when the light goes on as Daniel (Giovanni Ribisi) is describing "The Graduate" to a fellow traveler on the train, you just know what's coming! This was sure better than watching The Ringer. Lewis and Ribisi rock!

This movie was excellent. The family was well portrayed; from the beginning with the father not wanting to admit his daughter had a disability, to the mother dealing with the guilt of putting her daughter away by trying to make up for it almost a decade later.Excellent cast (Lewis, Ribisi, Keaton, Skerritt, etc.) and I loved how the disabled characters were believable. Sometimes movies depicting the disabled are no more than an insult. Lewis and Ribisi were incredibly believable in their roles, actually I had never seen Ribisi in a role previous to this one and - I have to be honest - I really did not think he was 'acting'. I thought the casting director had found someone disabled to fill the role. Once I found out the truth, I thought Ribisi should have been nominated for an Oscar! For the person who complained about the other story lines going on in the movie; a movie has to be multi-faceted, otherwise it can become boring. And I don't think the other story lines were too indulgent, they added flavor.And a mother that has a child whom she believes she has failed in the past yes, she will be a basket case and indecisive with every step she takes. That's what mothers do...it's the norm.Another great movie that was obviously overlooked by Hollywood. (So what else is new?)

As a person with disabilities and a disability rights advocate, I can only ask where were the technical advisors? That's my question. It seems that Garry Marshall used this as a vehicle to make all sorts of sermonette statements about the disabled/challenged/insert politically correct term here. And "Gee, wouldn't it be funny if..." so he could use supposedly funny lines like "Your daughter is barking." And "I can drive" (on a bike)...Yuck. Yuck. That low level of effort for humor is the same low level of understanding the writers made to write the script and the actors made to study the disabilities they (very poorly) mimic.The road to hell, they say, is paved with good intentions. And this movie deserves a circle in hell of its own for a very poorly conceived script, very, very bad acting (to the point of the two leads being downright insulting), and just being a very bad idea all the way around. Frankly, this film does more harm than any good it may have intended. Avoid it.