By Tom Jozwik
It’s been some time since I’ve seen a movie I’ve enjoyed as much as “CODA,” poised for its theatrical opening in Milwaukee Aug. 20, one week after its debut on Apple TV+.
The title of the movie, directed by Ms. Sian Heder and starring 19-year-old Briton Emilia Jones and still-lovely-at-age-55 Academy award winner Marlee Matlin, is both an abbreviation for Child of Deaf Adults and a term for a musical composition’s conclusion. Not coincidentally, music and deafness are key topics in “CODA,” the unprecedented winner (this past winter) of all four of the top Sundance Film Festival awards. Golden Globe and Oscar kudos may well be in the offing.
Unlike its Sundance feat, “CODA’s” premise is not without precedent. Ruby Rossi (Jones), on the cusp of adulthood, has a dilemma: does she stay home and hold a job, or does she go off to college?
Complicating her decision is the fact that high school senior Ruby—who has no hearing impairment whatsoever—already has a job, the main duty of which is to serve as interpreter for her deaf parents (Matlin and Troy Kotsur) and co-worker brother (Daniel Durant) in the family fishing business. The idea of Ruby’s matriculating in Boston rather than remaining with the three other Rossis in Gloucester terrifies mom Jackie and dad Frank, although brother Leo plumps for Ruby to accept a vocal scholarship from the Berklee College of Music.
But what does the young lady want to do? And will there ultimately be a meeting of the four Rossi minds?
Sidebar “CODA” stories involve a romance between Ruby and another member of her high school chorus (Irish actor Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) and Ruby’s interactions with her mentor, chorus conductor Bernardo Villalobos (acclaimed Mexican thespian Eugenio Derbez).
One of “CODA’s” Sundance awards is for best ensemble cast—and “CODA’s” international group is a good one! The cast member last mentioned, Derbez, is as “Mr. V” a delightful mixture of student-directed wryness and physicality. Winningly, Matlin, Kotsur and Durant--none of them hearing individuals--verify the old saw that good acting is largely nonverbal.
Jones, who was tutored in American Sign Language for her role, performs most credibly. She has a lovely voice and, for me, the highlight of the film is her singing, and simultaneously signing, the 1960s Joni Mitchell classic “Both Sides Now.” Even more poignant are scenes featuring Ruby with each of her parents; equally memorable is another shown from Frank’s point of view, a remarkable soundless scene wherein Ruby’s father takes in a high school concert and surveys the reactions of others in attendance. Ever so briefly, the viewer is able to enter Frank’s orbit—a microcosm for the world of all who cannot hear.
Adolescent filmgoers, in particular, will relate to Emilia Jones’ Ruby Rossi. The guess here is that the teens are going to really like “CODA.” And that their parents and grandparents will, too.