My Left Foot
1979 · 100 min
Directed by Jim Sheridan. Written by Jim Sheridan, Shane Connaughton. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Alison Whelan, Kirsten Sheridan.
No one expects much from Christy Brown, a boy with cerebral palsy born into a working-class Irish family. Though Christy is a spastic quadriplegic and essentially paralyzed, a miraculous event occurs when, at the age of 5, he demonstrates control of his left foot by using chalk to scrawl a word on the floor. With the help of his steely mother — and no shortage of grit and determination — Christy overcomes his infirmity to become a painter, poet and author.
Critics 98% · audiences 92% · streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, MGM+ · 5 Oscar nominations, 2 won