Because CODA is an acronym for children of deaf adults, you’d expect the Oscar-nominated film of the same name to be about deafness. I’m here to tell you it is not, for it is above all about family challenges, teenage trials, and the power of education. While the central family of this romance is deaf, played mostly by deaf actors, with one exception, using ASL communication, the film’s title is a metaphor for a story whose many layers reveal truths about life that transcend deafness.
Rubi (Emilia Jones) is the only hearing member of her loving four-member family in Gloucester, Mass., and figuratively she hears the conflicting sources of discord as she navigates between her emerging singing talent and her necessity to be the translator for her family’s fishing business. For any teen who moves slowly to distance herself from family so she can go it on her won, CODA will resonate, hearing or not.
This coming-of-age drama plays out against a community yet unschooled in dealing with otherness, viz., fellow humans with special needs and talents, but outside of the community’s normal experience. Not everyone can be as understanding or resilient as dad Frank (Troy Kotsur, with an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor), who initially goes nose to nose with ignorance, but who gradually adjusts to the town and his lovingly rebellious daughter
Education is often a game changer, and in CODA it is no different. Rubi’s choir director, Mr. V (Eugenio Derbez), sees her voice gift and gives his time to coach her for a Berklee School of Music audition. His dedication to her, with his tough-love methods (J K Simmons in Whiplash but sweeter), is a convincing statement about the right way to teach and the power of education done right.
CODA is much more than about deafness: It reveals the many hurdles teens and parents face getting to their higher levels. While it lacks the luster of Little Miss Sunshine and has a midlin’ sap index, it succeeds in figuratively adjusting those of us who have a deaf ear to the demands of achieving happiness through, you guessed it, LOVE.
CODA deserves its Oscar nominations (it garnered the most awards in Sundance history, after all!). If you take a free week’s subscription from Apple TV to see it, you’ll thank me and certainly sing Both Side Now (Rubi’s audition song) for days if not forever.
CODA
Director: Sian Heder (Tallulah))
Screenplay: Heder
Cast: Emilia Jones (Brimstone), Troy Kotsur (Wild Prairie Rose)
Run Time: 1h 51m
Rating: PG-13
