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My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown

My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown

Drama · 1989

No one expects much from Christy Brown, a boy with cerebral palsy born into a working-class Irish family. Though Christy is a spastic quadriplegic and essentially paralyzed, a miraculous event occurs when, at the age of 5, he demonstrates control of his left foot by using chalk to scrawl a word on the floor. With the help of his steely mother — and no shortage of grit and determination — Christy overcomes his infirmity to become a painter, poet and author.

Movie details

My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown

“A film about life, laughter, and the occasional miracle.”

1989 Drama 1h 43m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.5 / 10

Community rating

No one expects much from Christy Brown, a boy with cerebral palsy born into a working-class Irish family. Though Christy is a spastic quadriplegic and essentially paralyzed, a miraculous event occurs when, at the age of 5, he demonstrates control of his left foot by using chalk to scrawl a word on the floor. With the help of his steely mother — and no shortage of grit and determination — Christy overcomes his infirmity to become a painter, poet and author.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jim Sheridan

Written by

Jim Sheridan · Shane Connaughton

Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis

Christy Brown

Brenda Fricker

Brenda Fricker

Mrs. Brown

A

Alison Whelan

Sheila

Kirsten Sheridan

Kirsten Sheridan

Sharon

D

Declan Croghan

Tom

Eanna MacLiam

Eanna MacLiam

Benny

M

Marie Conmee

Sadie

Court is in session

Put My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.