Film: Sound of Metal

GENRE: Drama
RATING: R for language
RUNTIME: 2 hours
PLATFORM: Amazon Prime|
STARRING: Riz Ahmed (The Night Of, Rogue One, Nightcrawler)
Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One), Paul Raci (TV guest spots)
DIRECTOR: Darius Marder (newcomer)
WRITER: Marder (Place Beyond the Pines) Abraham Marder (newcomer)
PLOT: A heavy metal drummer’s life changes when he loses his hearing.   

FULL DISCLOSURE: I loved Riz Ahmed in The Night Of.  

STORY STUFF: The Marders have written a pretty moving story. Your heart aches for Ruben as he loses his hearing and has to learn how to live with deafness. The pace is slow but necessary as we go on this journey with Ahmed’s character. The movie gives you the opportunity to try experience what those without hearing have to go through and appreciate the sounds that are all around us.

ACTING STUFF: Ahmed is fantastic. He pulls you into the film and keeps you rooting for him the entire time. His display of emotion in just a look is masterful. I think it’s his eyes; he says so much with them. It was amazing to experience the frustrations and triumphs with this brilliant actor. It’s a shame he’ll probably lose to Chadwick Boseman at the Oscars, but I’m thankful that his performance was at least recognized by the Academy. The other actors are good too. They also have a number of hearing impaired children and adults in the cast as well.      

ARTISTIC STUFF: It’s all about the sound design. It’s simply incredible. Well, maybe I shouldn’t say ‘simply’ as it is intense and complicated at times. To put the audience in Ruben’s shoes, we are treated to the diminished and altered sounds that he hears throughout the film. Don’t play with the remote – share the experience. If this movie doesn’t win the now single Sound Oscar, I’ll be extremely disappointed.   

VERDICT: Four and a half stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You want to see awesome acting and challenge your hearing.
UPCOMING REVIEW: Three more Oscar films