As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family’s fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music and her fear of abandoning her parents.
Chuck says:
Frank and Jackie Rossi have placed an unfair burden on their daughter Ruby. She’s required to wake up at 3:00 am to go out on their fishing boat each day before school to and then negotiate with the low-balling middlemen who purchase their catch. They also need her to go to doctor’s appointments and make phone calls for them for as a child of deaf adults, Ruby has been forced into being the bridge between their self-imposed exile and the hearing world, a job that’s left her increasingly frustrated as she enters her senior year in high school. While her friends are making plans to leave for college, the guilt-ridden girl feels she must stay to help her parents, who are content live in their silent world oblivious to the fact they’re holding their daughter back by doing so.
This is the central dilemma of Sian Heder’s “CODA,” a genuine crowd-pleaser snatched up by Apple TV at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival for a record $25 million. It’s easy to see why they wrote that check, as the film’s heart-warming message is delivered with a sincerity that refuses to pander to the audience, its poignancy well-earned. Just as important is the dynamic, winning performance from newcomer Emilia Jones as Ruby, the actress commanding every scene she’s in, willingly putting the movie on her shoulders and passionately carrying it to success.
Having cut her teeth as one of the head writers on “Orange is the New Black,” Heder is accustomed to juggling multiple storylines, her script for “CODA” reflecting this. As Ruby deals with her issues of belonging and her future, circumstances arise that force her parents (Troy Kutsor and Marlee Matlin) to emerge from their respective shells, while her brother Leo (Daniel Durant), also deaf, strives to convince his mother and father that he can take his sister’s place, to establish their family in the community they’ve shunned. Awkward love affairs, incidents of bullying and a labor battle between independent fishing boats and the regulatory committee squeezing them ensue as well. There’s a lot going on.
Ironically, the most cliched of the subplots ends up being the most engaging. Ruby’s music teacher Bernardo Villalobos (Eugenio Derbez) recognizes her passion for music, her voice an instrument that demands to be heard. Despite his character’s flamboyant nature, the actor wisely underplays the scenes he has with Jones and a quiet sort of magic occurs. The performers create a sense of intimacy that lays the foundation for the film’s poignant climax which manages to move us in a deft, honest manner that’s all too rare.
But in the end, it’s Jones’ movie and the actor takes the opportunity and runs with it, serving notice that she’s a multi-talented performer with a major career ahead of her. Fierce, sympathetic, and wholly appealing, you’re in her corner from the start as she commands the screen with a magnetic turn. You can’t take your eyes off the young woman and for good reason; she has the sort of innate charisma and talent tailor-made for the movies.
The movie stumbles slightly early on due to the calculated, too-broad humor from Matlin and Kotsur. Their frantic signing about their sexual activities, I can do without. Thankfully Heder abandons this approach, wisely shifting the focus to Ruby’s more grounded concerns. To be sure, “CODA” may seem familiar at times, but there’s no resisting its heart and Jones’ presence. Be prepared to laugh and shed a tear or two. The film earns them both.
3 1/2 Stars
