CODA (2021)
3/4
One great movie of many that have come out of this year’s award season is Sian Heder’s streaming sensation CODA. This is a masterfully directed film about family, tolerance, and—most importantly—about love triumphing over all other obstacles.
Based on the French film La Famille Bélier, CODA follows Ruby Rossi, a musician and the only person in her family who can hear. Throughout the film, we follow Rossi as she struggles to accomplish her dreams while at the same time being there for her family to help them with their daily struggles.
The main perk of this movie is Heder’s writing and direction. This film is beautifully written and is full of rich character work, colourful humour, and captivating dramatic tension. Heder’s direction is also well implemented. In fact, it’s so masterful that it’s hard to believe that this is only her second full-length feature film.
Another thing that I really like is the acting. Emilia Jones is wonderful as Ruby—this is one of those performances where you can just tell that she worked hard to be in this movie, and this type of passion is clearly shown throughout the film. Troy Kotsur is also really good here. He truly delivers an Oscar-worthy performance as Frank Rossi, a strong and loving father who fights to earn a living and provide for his family despite living in a society that has trouble with accommodating people’s disabilities. (Kotsur’s Oscar nod makes him the first deaf male actor in Oscar history to receive a nomination for an acting award, and only the second deaf actor to attain an Oscar nod.)
The only thing that I was not a big fan of in CODA was its predictability. Everything that happens in this movie the audience can see coming from a mile away. There is no real surprise twist, it’s just a well-told story of a small-town girl struggling to find a balance between helping her family and achieving her dreams.
Despite a rather predicable plot, CODA is a true gem that successfully holds its own among other movies the Academy has showered their love on this Oscar season.