MovieChat Forums > The Other Sister (1999) Discussion > Deliciously Horrendous

Deliciously Horrendous

posted 20 years ago by noneedforpirates
46 replies | jump to latest

Maybe I'm going to Hell, but this movie is hilarious. When Juliette Lewis absolutely goes nuts at the country club you can't help but piss yourself laughing because it's so horrible. I'm not mentally disabled, nor am I close to anyone who is, but if I was I'd be absolutely digusted and offended at this movie. The actors play their roles as if they were six year olds trapped in adult bodies.

The directing was also terrible, there are certain shots in this movie that come out of nowhere. Like when Daniel climbs down from the balcony and asks Carla to marry him. Out of nowhere there is this harp sound and the two look over to see the harp player smiling at them for no apparant reason at all. Watch for it, it is hilarious.

All in all, it's innaccurate and offensive. At one point when Daniel is drunk, Ernie actually throws something to distract him like a cat. But that's why this movie is so fun to watch, especially with a group of friends. The message is nice and all, but it's such a farce.

[–] BooManBooBoy 20 years ago

Oh, don't worry, you ARE going to hell.

[–] noneedforpirates 20 years ago

then I guess I'll see the makers of this movie down there with me ^_^

[–] HereJDwas 20 years ago

This movie SUCKED...a story..I went to see a movie before this, I believe it was Armageddon, but I could be wrong, but we snuck into this movie afterwards...and we've NEVER done that again, that was 5 years ago...and I would have never thought we'd sit through the entire movie...but we did, and I wanted to claw my damn eyes out...this movie is horrible...it's boring.

[–] garnet_Bill 20 years ago

noneedforpirates, in response to your first post, they ARE six-year-olds(mentally)trapped in adult bodies. That's what mental retardation is, where, at a certain age, no age in specific, the mind stops devoloping while the body continues growing. So, think before you post.

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Why are people such dumbasses?
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[–] nobby1701 20 years ago

That's not at all true. Are six year olds sexually aware? Are they twenty five years old and aware that they'll never do the things that everyone else takes for granted?

I agree. This film was horrible. Probably the WORST depiction of mental retardation since Linda Purl and Sean Cassidy in "Like Normal People". It was a LONG BORING movie that has NOTHING to do with it's supposed subject matter. I was embarrassed for the actors.

[–] mikeval 20 years ago

For what it's worth, I have a son who is 22 and "developmentally challenged". He's probably about 15 mentally, but I can assure you he's been interested in sex since he was 16 or so. Hormones have to do with physical age, not mental age.

[–] RainyCloudz 20 years ago

I agree.. although I didn't find it funny because it was just so boring and bad. One of the worst movies. Offensive.

[–] garnet_Bill 20 years ago

RainyCloudz, how was this movie offensive? And,nobby1701, this movie's subject matter was about two mentally retarded people falling in love with each other, one who lives on his own and the other wanting to be on her own.

As Mikeval said hormones affect the body. Then, the mind catches up. They have these feelings and their minds soon figure out what they are. It doesn't mean that these characters have to be older mentally to have sexual feelings.

The two main characters are like 20 or 21 physically and only 6 or 7 mentally.

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So many dumbasses, not enough bullets.
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[–] 20 years ago

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[–] acousticfilms 19 years ago

Personally, I found this film easily adorable and very light-hearted yet dealing with a serious theme. How could you not sit back and enjoy watching this enjoyable film? I saw it years ago and I watch it over and over with my sister because it's just one of those films that are a great change from the dark, intense films we are usually attracted to. Nothing absolutely magnificent, but I believe that the writers were decent. And I absolutely LOVE the cast..so incredibly diverse Ribisi and Lewis are. I don't find the film offensive at all, my cousin has a mental disability and this film actually made him happy, he even told us he had ideas of getting his own appartment short after during dinner...everyone looked at me and I just jumped in my car...not my fault. But I believe that this film is just too light and sweet to show any disparage to, that's just silly.

[–] stupu 19 years ago

I have to agree.

It just finished a minute ago and I think it was genuinely an ok movie...but then agian...I wouldn't tell my friends that :P

[–] Sagewhoknowsheronions 19 years ago

I enjoyed it and would tell my friends. Very human feelings without sickly sentiment. Strange that it as sex and violence have become more accepted, other things have become less so.

"The right to free speech stops short of shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theatre." Mark Twain.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Sarah22222222 19 years ago

She passed her exams at the school and it was a normal school not a school for the mentally retarded. It was so dumb, at some points she was thinking like a 20something year old, intellegent, sexually aware and at other points she was dressing up in a *beep* swan costume that her sister made for her!

walk down the right back alley in sin city, and you can find anything

[–] srp-8 19 years ago

Under federal law, public schools may no longer assume that all retarded children must be sent to special classrooms. Instead, every retarded child is evaluated to determine what kind of education is appropriate. Some are placed in special classrooms for children with learning disabilities, while others are placed in a regular classroom.

[–] fool_on_the_hill10 19 years ago

I agree with you 100 percent. I was disgusted by the way the two actors portrayed mentally retarted people. It was just insulting. And I do know someone who is mentally retarted.

[–] MuskratPower14 19 years ago

Excuse me...i have an uncle that is mentally retarded and one of my friends is as well, and this movie did do an accurate portrayal of someone with a mental illness. I spend time with people who are mentally retarded, and i wasn't disgusted or offended with this movie. In fact, my mom, who grew up with my uncle, was amazed at how well Giovanni Ribisi and Juliette Lewis played their characters.

I think u actually need to spend some time around people who are mentally disabled, then maybe you'll be able to understand this movie a little more.

When are we gonna get there? I'm hungry. This car smells weird. ~*~Riley~*~

[–] robototron 19 years ago

OH MAN! I AGREE! The best scene was the cracker on the shirt! HAHAHAHAHA! Be sure to watch it drunk for added hilarity. AND DON'T TELL OUR LOVE SECRET!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HOLY *beep*

[–] Tasku 19 years ago

I think it was boring, because after half an hour of watching it, I could already guess how it would end, and what issues would be solved and how etc, etc...

Same old same old...

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] QuirkyWriter 19 years ago

Two of my friends have siblings who are mentally disabled. One of them, Anne, is actually a fairly bright young woman with a genuine personality, and only slightly slurred speech. When I saw "The Other Sister" there were times in the acting where I thought to myself, "Okay... well, I guess that's fairly accurate." and other times where I was going, "What the hell are you doing?! This isn't a parody of their disability!"

I didn't think it was necessarily a BAD movie, but it was a little unrealistic (and downright insulting) at times. It's definitely not on my "favorites" list...

But boy, you
sure look pretty
when you're putting the damage on.
- Tori Amos

[–] ercartledge 19 years ago

This film is on TV right now. I think it's about halfway through. Never heard of it before. I turned on to see Juliette Lewis dressed as a swan and Giovanni Ribisi as a bear or something. I spend about 10 minutes trying to figure out exactly what the hell it was that I was watching...my mind raced, but I was still pretty baffled.

I came onto to IMDB to discover this is a film about young people with mental disabilities - I nearly choked with the shock! What the hell are they playing at?? I'm SO embarrassed for these actors and for anyone who suffers from the disability that they are attempting to portray.

Ribisi is worse than Lewis, but it's a close call. So cliched it hurts. Did they actually do any research?

And the sentimental tone and sugary lighting just make me want to cry...for all the wrong reasons.

End now.

[–] thebigslimuk 19 years ago

I was channel hopping, and this movie, managed to hold my attention for more than a few seconds ( very rare).

I think Rabisi is a fantastic actor.

I had to find out what was happening though as its half way though, (i also stumbled upon is at around the part were she dresses as a swan).

I cant watch it now, as its too far in, i may havce to rent it out.

[–] razielarcanum 19 years ago

The film is still on TV (BBC2 I think). I came onto IMDb to find out a little more about it as I'm a semi-fan of Ms Lewis. The only thing that's a little odd that seems to be pervading these boards is that once people have a friend of a friend who is mentally challenged/retarded/etc., they seem to consider themselves experts and able to discredit any portrayal they see fit. I'm not denying that experience of mental illness and conditions gives you a deeper insight into what to expect.

But does it not seem a more likely scenario that there are a huge range of different mental illnesses and conditions, and even when we take mental retarding [there doesn't appear to be a corresponding noun for this] on its own, there are a whole host of physical ages and a whole host of mental ages and a whole host of people with all the different combinations of mental and physical age in the world. Add to this the factor of the spectrum of natural human diversity that people seem to ignore when considering mental conditions, and you can't say that a person with mental condition X will behave exactly according to a particular model. You couldn't claim that Marlon Brando's acting was awful in The Godfather because your best friend's mate's cousin used to have mafia ties.

Everyone is different!

Feel free to rip my tentative offering to shreds.

[–] spodokomodo 19 years ago

It seemed to go on forever!

This type of film is always in danger of patronising it's subject, but I just thought it was a little to warm and fuzzy.I didn't find this film necessarily very challenging, I mean the notion of independence thrown around here is hardly virgin ground.

I found Keaton's continual over reactions to every little thing Carla does extremely infuriating and repetetive. I mean talk about flogging a dead horse, we get it already, she has anxieties over her daughters walk in the world, do we have to be witness to a hissy fit every five frickin' seconds, not a fan of Keaton's neurotic histrionics at the best of times. Lewis was okaaaay, but I found Ribisi's depiction genuinley moving (sorry). Did anyone actually give a crap about the other two sisters...or Michelle. I felt like I was watching Father of the Bride for an hour of it.

Of course typically of a cynic, I expected Danny to get hit by the marching band's tour bus, Mr Tate to hit the bottle again, maybe even see Ernie go on a solvent based paint induced nam vet killing spree in his basement, but the closest it got to harrowing was during danny's confession too which I nearly wet myself laughing, the party crowd started laughing, Carla got upset and then I felt ashamed of myself... then grossly manipulated. Everbody's just so nice, just barf me with a spoon.

Ribisi was the only reason for watching this movie, the only reason I watched the infernal thing to the end, just to make sure he was okay. Just wanted to give him a hug after that exam result dog suit scene (please forgive me if I make you puke).

He lives off Tids and Bits for pity's sake... I wept..... sorta.

No Clues!

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] nikchris 19 years ago

I am a fan of Ribisi so i sat down and watched this movie a long ago. Seen it 2 more times since.I cannot believe how stupid someone must be to feel offended by this movie.Maybe those who have "Terminator" as their favorite movie.It is very nice,it touched me. I have a cousin who is exactly like Daniel(Ribisi) in real life but he is 28 and never been with a woman.Watching this movie made me feel like there is always a chance for those people to do something nice with their lives. Very very good,i gave it a 9.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] honorgrad0183 19 years ago

I have to disagree with the comments on this movie being horrible. I am a sop for sad movies, especially movies in which the main character is going through trials and tribulations of life and suddenly you get to see a different side of them when they find love. I had never heard of Juliette Lewis until I saw this movie and I found her acting in this movie to be very superb. All In All, I think this movie to be excellent.

[–] Rat-4 19 years ago

hahaha, I love the original post to this thread. Let me just preface my comment by saying, if you are easily offended, don't read any further.

Let's face it. Watching actors acting like they are retarded is absolutley hilarious. If anyone is going to hell, it's the director of this movie. This is one of those films that will be appreciated by few and roared at by the rest. We made a point of renting this film one night purely to laugh at it. We usually rent the latest Segal or Van Damme movies, because you just know that these guys are just going through the motions so they can pay the rent. But, this movie actually takes itself seriously. I pictured Giovanni Ribisi (sp?) leaving the country for a year after making this film. If you want to see an actor who can play a challenging role properly, watch Daniel Day Lewis in "My Left Foot" or Sean Penn in "I am Sam".

[–] 19 years ago

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