SnoopyStyle
Matt Hamill (Russell Harvard) is born deaf. He is raised by his single-mom and his grandfather Stanley Leroy McCoy (Raymond J. Barry). His grandfather refuses to accept his deafness and pushes Matt in life including into wrestling. Matt is bullied which often leads to violence. He asks Michelle to prom but it does not go well. His Purdue college life goes badly and he ends up working at the garage for his grandfather. He goes to Rochester Institute of Technology and has roommate Jay 'Mr. Clean' Jakubowski as best friend. He starts dating deaf activist Kristi Jones (Shoshannah Stern) as he works to be a National Collegiate Champion.This is a biopic of a niche personality done in a relative standard straight forward way. It's an interesting life but not necessarily world shattering. The most interesting part is his deafness. The first intriguing scene is Matt trying to follow Michelle and her girlfriend's conversation in the car. It's a small window into his world. It also shows a possible way to make this movie truly original. It could make this an immersive world where the audience gets to feel with Matt as much as follow his life. In that way, the prom incident works well. Raymond J. Barry is great and Russell Harvard is a functional deaf actor.
talisencrw
I came to this movie hoping to inspire my eight year-old son, who has a reading disability. I don't like wrestling, although I enjoy other sports, but mostly movies, while my son loves both watching films and pro wrestling. The special relationship between Matt and his grandfather really made an impact on my son and I. A very well-made, well thought-out film, which I would recommend to anyone. We were fortunate to see this yesterday as part of a film festival, in which both the deaf director and deaf star were present for a very illuminating question-and-answer period afterwards. In conclusion, both people, through their work, were able to show what the deaf and wrestling worlds are really like. I hope to see more of the director's work in the future and wish for her the very best.
mando1205
I just saw that movie yesterday with my sister and niece on Wednesday night the 2nd of November in Westminster,CO. I must say it was touching and inspiring true story! We liked it. It's nice to show hearing people that deaf people can do anything they want to be succeed in whatever they do because most of hearing people think deaf people can't. Therefore, Matt Hamill is a perfect example of role to demonstrate hearing people that he have made it through UFC career from wrestling throughout his high school and that we are all the same human but but there is only one thing is that we can't hear. At that point, we are not considered a disability. This movie is aspiring to great knowledge for everyone. Well done!
chainsawhand
Hamill is a simple story, well told.Matt Hamill was born a deaf child in a hearing community. With a powerful mentor in the form of his loving grandfather, played with grit and heart by the wonderful Raymond J. Barry, and a supportive family, he grew up different, fighting (often literally) for acceptance and inclusion, throughout his school career. Matt never truly belonged until he became an adopted member of the Deaf community at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where the film shows him growing as an athlete and a person, leading to an epic and emotional finale.Audiences will settle in quickly to the traditional biopic formula, but in this case, the formula does not restrict the filmmakers, but rather frees them to use innovative techniques in service to the story. The practice of subtitling the entire film is inclusive, and in and of itself brings the audience together in a shared experience. Multiple layers of commentary are laced throughout the tightly constructed screenplay, bringing issues such as bullying, alienation and angst, and the need for acceptance and inclusion, into the story.Hamill is, in many ways, the first film of it's type, and has been long awaited in the Deaf community. It's a powerful and moving true story, and we can all see ourselves reflected in it.
AD
