aik_tim I stumbled upon this movie during a special pedagogy lesson in school. I was stunned by the actors's performances - they're truly talented. Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker both won an Oscar for their efforts.The movie is about a real guy named Christy Brown, who, despite his severe handicap, wins a stubborn struggle for respect, love and the outside world's prejudice. When Christy was born in 1932 he encountered complications, which resulted in severe brain damage. He could, for example, not talk or sit alone, and the only body part that he learned to control was his left foot. The film follows how Brown deal with his disability in a fight against loneliness, isolation and sadness.A touching movie, who gets to you a little extra. I held back tears.

Jafar Iqbal 'My Left Foot' is the remarkable story of Christy Brown, born into a working-class Irish family with cerebral palsy. Growing up in a life full of poverty and extreme prejudice, Christy defied everyone's expectations. Using his left foot, the only part of his body he had proper control over, the young man learned to write and paint.I could spend this review talking about the film's excellent portrayal of working class Ireland, and the working class Irish family specifically. I could talk about how the film does a good job of showing how the attitudes towards Christy Brown changed as Ireland's own political landscape changed. I could probably also talk about the role of women in Christy's life, from his mother and sisters, to the loves in his life. All of these things are worthy of mention.However, when talking about 'My Left Foot', there is one thing that stands out above everything else; that being Daniel Day-Lewis. Day-Lewis had already proved his acting chops in the excellent 'My Beautiful Laundrette, but it was this movie that put him on the map globally. And rightly so: he is absolutely fantastic as Christy Brown.Acting is difficult at the best of times, when you're playing a fully-functioning human being. What Day-Lewis achieves, therefore, is even more admirable. It is an extremely effective and realistic portrayal of someone suffering from cerebral palsy, and the actor goes gung-ho with both the physicality expressiveness required for the role. It is a joy to watch.An honourable mention also needs to go to Hugh O'Conor, who plays the younger Brown. I can only assume that it is even harder for a child to go through the rigours that the role requires, but O'Conor is brilliant. What makes the character difficult to play is that, in trying to make it look real physically, the emotion required can be lost. Both actors avoid that problem with what seems like relative ease: at no point does the efficacy or emotion of the moments falter.All the other stuff mentioned above are worthy of talking about, if I intended to write a longer review. But for this small thing, I think it is more than enough to say that 'My Left Foot' deserves to be seen just for this landmark Daniel Day-Lewis performance. Whatever you may think of the film as a whole, or whether you care about the story of Christy Brown or not, it is secondary to the simple appreciation for an actor at the top of his game.

claytonchurch1 I like Daniel Day-Lewis. I get what he was after (not milking our sympathy and giving an accurate portrayal). That said, this movie was boring. Boring.First of all, the storyline is just not that great. I realize it's Christy Brown's life. I don't dispute that he's amazing; nor that his mom was amazing; nor his siblings, who, too, are wonderfully loving. It's just not that great a "plot."Secondly, I can be very emotional, but this movie didn't make me cry, laugh, feel indignant, or teach me any great life lesson. I wasn't inspired, and felt no sense of triumph.Thirdly, watching the movie was like someone saying to me, "Hey, there's this guy I read about with cerebral palsy. All he could control was his left foot, so he wrote and painted with it. His paintings were actually very good, and he typed with his toe." My response? "Wow" (with no exclamation point). Am I interested to hear more? No. Am I glad he told me? Not really.Lastly, Daniel Day-Lewis's acting was so good, that I could understand only 15% of his words. Tough to watch a movie when you can't understand the main character. Give me a break. This may be the case with some individuals with severe CP (but not with my CP friends, 90% of whose words I understand), but even if it were the case for Christy Brown, I mean--come on--I'm watching a movie here. Make me a concession. I know, I know. If he were my brother, I'd have to learn. But this is a movie. I've got two hours, not a background of twelve years listening to this guy and thereby learning to understand him. Speak understandably, DDL, for the sake of the movie viewers; we'll still get your point. DDL's unclear speech causes one to try to figure out through the whole movie what he's just said by the context of how everyone else in the movie responds. Let me understand his words. Speak so that I can. Ugghhh.

JAMSHAID RAZZAQ Wonderful movie, Christy Brown is as cripple as Hamlet. He was not "Nothing" so he chose not to end his life. We love his high spirited hopefulness and his refusal to be a vegetable. Millions are mentally and creativity wise more cripple than Christy Brown.The movie depicts the protagonist fighting a great war against outside circumstances ( being a cripple ) and inside world - a desire to make his mark in spite of his apparent inability to create specially in the situation when most around him thought that he was nothing more than a vegetable.I feel Christy Brown represents the modern man struggling against the hostile world without and within. The support of the family, specially the mother figure represents the only hope that we have got - the fellow human beings.Daniel Day Lewis rightly earned his Oscar for his performance. Simply the best.