The Cure (1995)

Regisseur:

Peter Horton

Drehbuchautor (WGA):

Robert Kuhn (written by)

Premierendatum:

21. April 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Werbezeile:

Two boys found a way to make one summer last a lifetime.

Plot:

Dexter, age 11, who has AIDS, and his next door neighbor Eric, a little older and much bigger, become best friends...

Plot Keywords:

Loss Of Son | Friendship Between Boys | Child Abuse | Childhood | Terminal Illness

Filmpreise:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

A tale of friendship and hope

Besetzung

Brad Renfro	...	Erik
Aeryk Egan	...	Tyler
Delphine French	...	Tyler's Girlfriend #1
Mona Powell	...	Tyler's Girlfriend #2
Andrew Broder	...	Tyler's Buddy #1
Jeremy Howard	...	Tyler's Buddy #2
Joseph Mazzello	...	Dexter
Annabella Sciorra	...	Linda
Diana Scarwid	...	Gail
Rosemary Corman	...	Elderly Woman in Street
Mychael T. Rambo	...	Garbageman #1
David Alan Smith	...	Garbageman #2
Delia Jurek	...	Angry Woman
Fran Korba	...	Elderly Women in Market
John Carroll Lynch	...	Skipper #1 (as John Lynch)

Alternativ:

Mississippi - Fluss der Hoffnung (Deutschland) [de]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for emotional thematic elements, and for language.

Länge:

97 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Seitenverhältnis:

1.85 : 1

Tonverfahren:

DTS

Altersfreigabe:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #33731) | South Korea:12 | Australia:PG | UK:12 | Germany:6 (bw) | Spain:7 | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia/Ontario)

Drehorte:

Divine Redeemer Hospital - 724 19th Avenue N., South St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

Firma:

Island World

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: During the supermarket trolley ride down the hill, the amount of sun and brightness changes drastically between shots.

Dialogzitate:

Gail: [while reading the newspaper] Some women saw that little AIDS boy at Peterson's yesterday.
Erik: It's in the newspaper?
Gail: No. Jan told me. I seen him in his yard but I didn't know he left the house.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Enthält ausschnittsweise Medicine Man (1992)

Soundtrack:

My Great Escape

A tale of friendship and hope

The Cure is an outstanding real-life drama that deals with a very sensitive subject. It is the story of the profound and dear friendship between two boys, Eric and Dexter. The latter has acquired AIDS from a blood transfusion. Thus he and his mom (Annabella Sciorra) have become outcasts, shunned by the public and labeled as dangerous company, basically due to a common lack of public knowledge of the disease.

When Eric (Brad Renfro, known from 'The Client' and 'Apt Pupil') and his mom move into the house next to them, he has to deal with public insults and the fear of catching AIDS himself. However, Eric overcomes his fear and risks everything. At first he starts talking to Dexter, but eventually he climbs over the fence and joins the witty boy (played by Jurassic Park's Joseph Mazzello) and his games. Very quickly he develops a real friendship with Dexter, who is delicately built and frail due to his condition.

The central theme of the movie – the theme which makes it pervasively authentic and tragic at the same time – is how Eric and Dexter try to find the ultimate cure. At first they experiment with all kinds of plants and leaves – which is very naive, but also genuine at the same time, as it shows how young kids deal with such heinous diseases and how strongly they still believe in the magic of the world. When they hear about an alleged cure which has been developed in the South, they do not hesitate and take off for an adventure that will bring them even closer together and symbolizes the ultimate quest for hope.

So they board a raft and head southwards on the Mississippi River. What starts as a real adventure becomes a dangerous undertaking, which is emotionally intriguing and instructive at the same time. The scene when Dexter reveals his fears and talks about the end of the universe, where everything is dark and cold, Eric hands him his sneaker, a symbol that wherever the boy may have to go, Eric is and will always be with him; he will never have to be alone. This sequence, which is one of the most compelling ones of the movie, features a very convincing interaction between the two actors, who manage to avoid awkward and corny dialogs and deliver a very genuine performance that is eventually smashing in its tenderness and honesty.

I will not go any further in outlining the plot, as I do not intend to give away too much information. The ending however is emotionally tough and makes the audience so much a part of the tragedy that everyone who watches the movie will feel personally affected. This aspect makes this movie so strong, so outstanding and so convincing. The emotional burden on every character is so real and so thrashing that even the tougher members of the audience might need some hankies.

A 10 is doing justice to this movie and is not too high a rating. There is hardly any other movie I have seen in my life so far that handles such an emotional issue with so much wit and sensibility. It is the story of how two boys make each other's life richer and how they teach each other lessons of life. Thus Dexter overcomes his isolation and sadness, and Eric learns what really counts in life; and both of them realize how much of a gift real friendship is when it comes to the hardest moments of life.

This movie is tragic – but its message is sheer inspiration.