My Left Foot (1989)

 Pros: Daniel Day-Lewis delivers a remarkable performance as the Irish Christy Brown, growing up poor with a severe disability, cerebral palsy, in a time when his family and country were ill-quipped to help him. He is brilliant, as only one of his limbs works and he inhabits the character, with all the facial expressions and detailed paintings (holding the brush in the toes of his left foot), Day-Lewis fully deserved his first Oscar for this role and he's not alone, Brenda Fricker is great as his mother, Bridget Brown, who delivered twenty-three children, though tragically, nine died as infants. She is brilliant and fearless as his biggest supporter, pushing her own wishes, whatever they might have been, aside to let him thrive. Ray McAnally is also great as the firm and tender patriarch. 

Cons: Despite the immense pity you have for Christy Brown and rough life he certainly has, he's a bit of an ass, especially when it comes to his love life. At a benefit concert, he meets his temporary nurse, Mary (Ruth McCabe), he somehow forms an attraction with her and is livid when he finds out that she already has a boyfriend and can't understand why she sees him if she doesn't love him, when it is actually none of his business especially since they just met. He's equally as cruel to his doctor, Eileen Cole (Fiona Shaw) when she gets engaged.

Recommend: Yes

Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-Hugh O'Conor also gives an exceptional performance as the young Christy, banished to a mat under the staircase, his mother struggling to care him, her body burdened by pregnancy upon pregnancy, but the love between them is fierce.

-One of the best scenes is when Christy surprises his mother with the vast amount of funds he receives from publishing his memoir. 

-Though it could not have been easy for them, Christy's siblings adore and support him and he is especially upset when his sister leaves to get married. 

-It is unclear exactly how Christy learns to read, though he is read to by the neighbors who don't think him capable of anything. Boy, does he prove them wrong.