Bert Taras This was an excellent film in so many ways. The acting, the directing, the use of actual facts regarding the legal system and the obstacles faced by handicapped persons (in the form of the deaf characters portrayed by LeVar Burton and Paul Sorvino). I saw the movie when it first appeared on television several years back and then a few years ago it was broadcast again late at night and I taped it. When I watched it again I was once more moved close to tears by the things which Burton's character was forced to endure.On a side note, one of the things this film did unintentionally was to give me the ability to learn how to communicate better with my family members who were hard of hearing. Watching Sorvino as Lowell Myers I paid close attention to how he would carefully form each word and feel the words vibrate along the back of his ears and through his throat and lips. I had an aunt with whom communication for me had been very difficult until I learned to do this, along with looking directly at a person when speaking. Admittedly to speak in such a manner, since it is slower and each word is carefully formed can at times sound mechanical but I cannot argue with the positive results. I have also used a similar method with communicating with people who are just beginning to learn the English language and again it is successful.

dtucker86 I remember watching this film twice as a kid, I haven't seen it since. Ernest Tidyman wrote the screenplay for it (he is the same guy who wrote The French Connection). LeVar Burton made his debut as Kunta Kinte in Roots (what a great way to start your career). He said at the time that this was the most challenging role imaginable, playing a deaf and dumb young man accused of murder. Donald Lang is a 20 year old who lives with his siblings and works on the loading docks, he is charged with murdering a prostitue. Lowell Myers is a deaf lawyer who takes on his case. Paul Sorvino is an excellent actor who always delivers and he takes on this challenging role as well. This movie makes it out like there is evidence that Donald Lang was innocent and didn't kill the hooker Ernestine Myers. A woman tells his lawyer that she heard Myers having an argument in the alley where she was murdered with another man and she heard his voice! Lang is taken back to the alley where she was killed and "acts out" a scene where he fights with another man who was the real killer. Sorvino makes an excellent speech at the conclusion where he talks about how a deaf mute is still entitled to the same rights as everyone else. He points out how Charlie Chaplin could make an audience laugh and cry and not use one single word. Its a great speech that tugs at your heartstrings its true, but folks I need to point out something. Every time Hollywood makes a film about a real life murder case, they always make it out like the criminal in question was INNOCENT! Why in the hell do they do this? Is Hollywood full of bleeding heart liberals who pee their pants every time someone is accused of a crime and God forbid if they are poor or African American! Evil comes in all colors and Donald Lang was evil and he was GUILTY! Five years after the murder of Ernestine Myers he was released from the asylum. Shortly afterwards, there was another woman who was murdered and he was seen leaving a bar with her. This time, there was overwhelming physical evidence that Lang was the killer and he was sent to prison for the rest of his life. If our legal system worked the way it should, this woman needn't have died. Donald Lang really was a killer and no amount of moralizing by Hollywood can change that cold hard fact. This film sort of reminded me of The Hurricane about Rubin Carter. It is a well made film with fine actors, but at the same time you have to take it with a grain of salt folks because the murdering son of a bitch really did it! CASE CLOSED!!!!!

lizannprice i saw this film a very long time ago and its impact was tremendous. so much so that although i had long forgotten the title i had not forgotten the film. only since i have been on the internet have i been able to trace the name of the film and subsequently look out for it on british tv or sky. so far though i have not come across it again. this film is more than worthy of a reshowing and i, for one, would be very pleased to see it again. i would go as far as to say that this film has haunted me for all this time.

Elainarain I saw this movie tonight for the first time since 1979, when i was a little girl, it was powerful then, and it still is. It still has the ability to make me cry....the ending still has me puzzled. I highly recommend this movie..it gave me a new respect for those of us, who are living with overwhelming disabilities, and still surviving like champions. BTW, Levar Burton is a helluva an actor! Bravo!!! Elaina