Release Date: 1/15/2005 Original Release: 1968 Format: DVD Length: 104 minutes Rating:PG (MPAA) Rating Reason: thematic elements UPC: 027616912015 Studio: MGM Home Entertainment
Dramas, Psychodrama, Tear Jerker, Self-Discovery, Wise Fools, Theatrical Release, Based On A Novel
Description
This intriguing drama, directed tenderly by Ralph Nelson, is based on the story FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON by Daniel Keyes. The plot centers around a mentally retarded adult who instantly matures as the result of an operation on his brain. The result is a hybrid of documentary, romance, social drama and science fiction. Cliff Robertson is unpredictably touching as Charly Gordon, the sudden grown-up, and gives a hard-earned Academy Award winning performance. Claire Bloom is simple and magnetic as Alice Kinian, his sympathetic and protective caseworker. As his teacher, Miss Kinian, takes Charly to a clinic where doctors, who have Charly compete with a mouse named Algernon, observe him. Algernon, a once retarded mouse, is usually the winner thanks to an experiment that has greatly raised his intelligence. This experiment is given to Charly, who initially isn't affected. However, he gradually becomes more and more educated, eventually becoming a genius. This change effects not only Charly but also all the people who have contributed to his metamorphosis.
By all physical appearances, when one first encounters Charly Gordon they see that he is just a regular man of, say, 30 years of age. By eveyday standards, Charly is of decent looks. He is strong,... Read the whole review at MatchFlick
