Starting his new job as an instructor at a New England school for the deaf, James Leeds meets Sarah Norman, a young deaf woman who works at the school as a member of the custodial staff. In spite of Sarah's withdrawn emotional state, a romance slowly develops between the pair.
Children of a Lesser God, though given a handsome openness in Director Haines' production, cannot transcend the banalities of the play. But Matlin does. She is, one might say, a miracle worker.
– Richard Schickel,
TIME Magazine,
16 Mar 2011
rotten:
Hurt seems to be bucking for at least two Oscar nominations here: one for his performance, the other for best echo effects by an interpreter of signed speech.
– Pat Graham,
Chicago Reader,
16 Mar 2011
fresh:
A touching and universal love story.
– Variety Staff,
Variety,
22 Jul 2008
fresh:
A genuinely touching love story and a clever gloss on the barriers and extensions of language.
– Stephen Garrett,
Time Out,
9 Feb 2006
rotten:
There's scarcely a single moment in it that seems to be spontaneous.