It barely missed my Top Ten for 2021, earning an Honorable Mention, and it is a delightful film. Now CODA (which stands for Child of Deaf Adult), has earned several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur, the first deaf actor to ever receive an Oscar nomination and who, I hope, will win the prize on March 27th.
But That’s Not The News I’m Writing About
The news is that streaming service Apple TV+, which is where you can currently see the movie is re-releasing CODA back into theaters for FREE. It will show in major cities across the U.S. and London at no charge, beginning Friday, February 25 through Sunday, February 27, 2022.
Ticket Info and Show times are here: https://www.coda.film/
This is a family film in more ways than one- the movie centers on a family of independent fishermen who own a struggling boat and business. 17-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the sole hearing member of a deaf family – a CODA, child of deaf adults. She’s a good kid, but also a typical teenager and although she is the family’s interpreter and only link to the hearing world for her parents (Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur), she’d much rather not have to start her day on the water, working hard before her school even starts.
Irony of ironies, it turns out that Ruby is a really good singer – something her family has never heard her do. When Ruby joins her high school’s choir club, doors begin to open that she never dreamt of.
Encouraged by her enthusiastic, tough-love choirmaster (Eugenio Derbez) to apply to a prestigious music school, Ruby finds herself torn between the obligations she feels to her family and the pursuit of her own dreams. It’s kind of heartbreaking.
And I won’t spoil any plot points, but this film is not a downer- it’s uplifting, and it earns any happy tears it gets.
So whether you watch it on Apple TV+ or you see it at a premium theater for free, I think you’ll enjoy this sweet film that is expertly acted by the entire cast.
