REVIEW REWIND: Amy (1981)
Continuing my viewing of my new Disney+ watch list, I have come to an obscure film from 1981 that I had never heard of before happening upon it on Disney+. Amy tells the tale of a turn-of-the-century woman named Amy Medford (Jenny Agutter) who leaves her loveless marriage and goes to work at a school for the deaf and blind. At first, she does this as a way of reconnecting with her deaf son who died. Despite the fact that she does not know sign language, she manages to get the kids to speak, thus impressing the teachers, the neighborhood and, most of all, the kids. In return, the kids teach her how to open her heart to love and to find her own self worth lost after years of feeling like a possession.
I don't know what to make of this film, but the eternal optimist in me kind of liked it by the end. I will admit that it starts off very slow. I think they were trying to convey how guarded and secretive Amy is being, but it came off as very cold. And, with a simple score, it just felt bleak.
But, at one point, when Amy helps the kids arrange a football team, my mood about the film changed and I was getting into it. And, I think this was the point where Amy starts feeling like she is her own woman. Agutter does her best to convey both sides of this emotionally complicated woman, but I think ultimately struggles due to Vincent McEveety's joyless direction.
Some of the kids are a joy and make this film more enjoyable than it should be, particularly Otto Rechenber as Henry and David Hollander as Just George. It was fun seeing Margret O'Brien and Nanette Fabray in this production as well.
Overall, it redeems itself at the end and is rather quite touching. So, I recommend it with some reservations due to the beginning.