TheBlueHairedLawyer Rocky is your average teenager; he loves baseball cards, dreams of traveling and has a loving mother. His mother's name is Rusty and she's a member of a biker gang. She's a no-nonsense, tough-as-nails woman but the exact opposite when it comes to Rocky; he's everything to her and she wants him to have every advantage to enjoy life even if other people just don't care. And one more thing... Rocky's life is supposedly on the line because he's severely deformed, with a facial skull deformity... so maybe he's not exactly your average teenager but he's no less of a person. He's extremely intelligent and kind towards everyone, and he loves his biker gang friends. After being enrolled in high school, this movie shows his complicated and dysfunctional yet adventurous and fun life, until something tragic happens that makes all people who were helped or affected by Rocky realize just how special he was.Mask is what movies today should be. When I walk past the movie theater and see titles like The Hunger Games (ugh, The Hunger Games is cr*p), I think back to powerful movies like Mask and wonder where they went. These days movies are all about cheaply making some fast cash, not telling an amazing story. Mask had actors like Cher (Cher is a singer also known for her roles in movies like Silkwood and Mermaids). Eric Stoltz did an outstanding job, one of the best acting jobs I've seen in some time (although my favorite actor is William B. Davis from The X-Files). It can't be denied that the plot of Mask is imaginative, with an original plot that movie producers today would probably just overlook. The soundtrack was great; it's not that annoying pop or dubstep music and it fits the movie's story.Anyway, please don't pass this movie up for some other garbage like The Hunger Games or Frozen, because Mask is a movie with a message that everybody needs in life: don't judge a person based on outside appearances, have a look inside their life first and then reevaluate your own life, see how much you take for granted every day. This is a movie everyone should see at some point and I'd stick by it over the crud coming out in theaters now any day.

Maziun I had my doubts about this movie . I was afraid that it will be either a cheap melodrama trying too hard to pull the heartstrings. Considering that some of the movies in the 80's about people suffering from different kinds of sickness were good ("Rain man" , "My left foot") I decided to give it a shot. It was a good decision.This movie never becomes too sentimental , too sappy or cheesy . It never tries to manipulate viewers emotions . It doesn't offer you empty optimism or pointless depression. "Mask" feels like a real life. It's bittersweet . Everything here seems natural , just like you're not watching a movie , but real life. Our hero has problems , yes , but he faces them without fear and with a bit of humor."Mask" balances humor and drama really well . The scene with the mirror is simple , yet very effective . This movie teaches us to treat people like Rocky just normal human beings and not to judge only by appearance. The uplifting message feels right . Sure , life is hard , but it shouldn't stop anyone from having dreams , ambitions and feelings- from living , no matter how short our life is.Good performances from Cher , Eric Stoltz and Sam Elliott . Watch out for Steve James ("American ninja") and Andrew Robinson ("Cobra") in small episodes as doctors and for Estelle Getty ("Stop or my mom will shoot") as Cher's mother. The makeup (the title mask) is brilliant and deserved Oscar. There is some nice rock n'roll music too.I give it 7/10.

gunslinger861 I saw this movie when i was 15. it just absolutely blew me away. from the amazing acting,to the beautiful score by bob seger,even down to the make up effects.Having seen pictures of the real rocky dennis,the make up job was absolutely dead on.The movie concerns rocky dennis. A boy who despite being born with a disease that has left his face horribly disfigured,is an extremely intelligent,kind,and outgoing young man. Rocky lives with his mother who is a hard living biker. Yet through her troubles she genuinely loves her son. There is also gar,a biker who treats rocky as if he were his own son.At the beginning the odds are stacked against rocky but through love and perseverance,he emerges as an inspiration to all around him.This film is an absolute triumph. However it is a major tear jerker. i think sometimes we need those kinds of films ,and a reminder that nothing is impossible. That no matter how high the odds are stacked one can emerge on top. I really related to his relationship with gar. i have always considered myself an outsider,but when i was 14 my step dad came into my life and took me as his son despite my flaws,much like gar did with rocky. Rocky also falls in love with a blind girl who even though she is blind,she loves rocky for who he is. the film is flawless,and the song by bob seger at the end credits is just perfect. I love this film and think everyone should see it. Also for the fact that it makes us look at ourselves,much like the elephant man did 5 years earlier. Instead of us looking at how we treat those who are different,it makes us look at ourselves in a much different way.That everyman has his burden to carry in life, regardless of if its mental,physical,or spiritual we all do. That appearance means nothing, beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder and if rocky dennis isn't a shining example of that then nothing is. Fair warning however. As wonderful as this film is the rocky dennis face could be frightening to small children. Great story with a great message. 10 out of 10

eric262003 It's easy to point out that this story is based on actual events once the cameras start rolling. It is also backed up by excellent performances by Cher and Eric Stoltz. "Mask" is a tender, heart-warming story of a young teenager named Rocky Dennis who is very intelligent and emotionally sensitive as well. However, he is scarred badly due to a rare disease that has disfigured his face since he was born. As always people who pass him by or approach him a first glance feel slightly intimidated by his deformity. But by not letting these fears get to him, he becomes well over with his peers as they learn to accept him for who he is, not by what he looks like. Rocky also gets a boost of confidence from his mother, Rusty Dennis, played with sheer excellence by Cher. Rusty is a gorgeous, single mother with problems of her own too. She spends most of her time hanging around with biker gangs, she drinks, smokes, is addicted to drugs, but in spite of her problems, she continues to love her son and will bend over backwards to defend him from anyone who puts him to a lesser degree. For example, when the school principal who recommended that her deformed son be placed in a "special" school and how she told him off to his face that he will thrive with the normal students and threatened to sue him, shows that her love for her son will always be first before her. But with his progress and his strong academic showings, Rocky graduates as valedictorian of his class.Ever since he was born, Rusty delivered tough love towards her son, not to the point where he'll suffer a nervous breakdown, but just as way to keep him motivated and to blend in with people his own age like as though he was a normal child, without taking advantage of his deformity. And Rocky continued that legacy, from the morning he wakes up to face the world, inflate his self-confidence, keeping the glass half-full and just be happy with the world around him in what little time he has on this Earth. And eventually through tiring persuasion to get his mother to clean up her act, the audience finds more ways to love Rocky for what he really is. You love him because Rocky is a kid who loves people back which to this day is a precious commodity that you rarely see these days.I have seen "Mask" many times and every time I watch the movie, tissue paper is never behind. It is a coming-of-age story that deals with triumphs and failures of having an incurable disease and is handled in a believable and sensitive approach. But the great center in the story is not entirely centered on the kid's physical illness, but the bonding between a mother and her son.