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Absolutely the worst movie.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I saw this film first on HBO and found it stunning, brilliant and heart wrenching. Most people, (I hope), never get to discover how much pain and suffering the human body can actually inflict on the human spirit. This film is largely about that. Therefore, I must caution this is not for the fainthearted.This is an important film. More so than PULP FICTION or THE AVENGERS or other like minded fantasies, because it shows in a very adult fashion what true evil and true heroism is really all about. The thematic level of this film could not be any higher. I credit it for giving you a small albeit hyper-real glimpse into what parents all over the world go through everyday of their lives as they raise their children through the vicissitudes of life in what can be a menacing world. Nick Nolte as Augusto Odone and Susan Sarandon as Michaela Odone have given birth and are raising a bright, precocious little boy they have named Lorenzo as played by half a dozen actors including Zack O'Malley. He has already learned three languages before his seventh birthday and his parents are wistfully looking down the road to his being a possible Harvard graduate when tragedy strikes. He begins exhibiting behavioral problems, memory lapses and tantrums. When he is taken to the doctors, he is diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a degenerative brain disease that takes the life of the affected party usually within two years. Lorenzo's parents, instead of quietly resigning themselves to accept Lorenzo's fate, do what almost any parent I know would do in such an instance. They pull out all the stops and make great sacrifices with regard to their own personal needs in order to extend and improve the quality of life for their child. This is so universally true about parents both for the observer and those with real life experience raising children it hardly needs comment here.This is a story about who the real heroes of the world are; they are the people who are trying preserve and enhance life at all costs regardless of their personal shortcomings or limitations of cultural or social training. The doctors tell the Odones that their son has at most two more years to live. Do they listen? Oh no, out of some panicked, primal urgency to lessen Lorenzo's suffering and protect the family unit no matter what, the Odones organize their lives around their son's need for round-the-clock care and Augusto Odone out of necessity becomes expert enough to invent a medicine that can ease the suffering of those with ALD and act as a preventative in many cases for those who are predisposed to suffer from the disease, but have not yet experienced the onset of its symptoms.There are many fascinating independent features of interest in this film, but central to is the acting of Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon as the beleaguered parents. Their reactions and responses to this appalling family crisis are so believable, I felt literally bonded to them in their struggle. Their uphill battle against the prevailing conventional wisdom of medical authorities simply to make a better life for their child would have made for good drama whether or not they ever found anything even remotely resembling a cure for ALD and its related maladies. The fact that Augusto Odone did in a large measure blaze the trail for exactly that is exceptionally commendable. The way director George Miller shows Augusto Odone figuring out a solution to arrest his son's pain is both visually and intellectually stimulating all the way up to that 'Eureka!' moment. When I was growing up, I was fortunate enough to see films about inventors like Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and teachers like Annie Sullivan. I must say here that the idea that people can improve conditions in life should not be the strict province of non-fiction. We could still use more of this concept in all the other genres of storytelling and the cinema. I found the end of LORENZO'S OIL exceptionally exhilarating as it postulated a breakthrough that would end suffering for many before it even began. This concept alone is worth more than a dinner and a movie.It is worth a donation to THE MYELIN PROJECT.

Based on courageous the true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone, two parents in a relentless search for a cure for their son Lorenzo's Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), 'Lorenzo's Oil' tells a tale so tragic yet moving, that it turns out to be An Extraordinary Film! Director George Miller & Actors Nick Nolte & Susan Sarandon bring this true story to life, with sensitivity & maturity. 'Lorenzo's Oil' is about how a family gives their all there is to cure their son from an incurable disease. The film is emotionally harrowing & also hard to watch at times. Your heart sinks for the child & your heartbreaks watching how his parents struggle. But, this is a courageous true-story about not giving up & fighting when life hits you hard. Sadly, Lorenzo, Augusto & Michaela Odone are not more among us. But, 'Lorenzo's Oil' is a salute to their spirits. Its a wonderful, challenging film, that doesn't deserve to be missed!Very Strongly Recommended!

An inspiring true-life account of a husband and wife who, out of desperation, discover a treatment for their son's disease that otherwise had been dismissed by the medical community as untreatable.This is Lifetime movie stuff, and at any number of moments the film threatens to topple over into the overly maudlin and treacly. But it mostly avoids those pitfalls thanks largely to Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon, who play the mom and dad and who make this film worth watching. Sarandon's role is a bit more stock, that of the suffering mother. But Nolte is ferocious as a man with an obsession, literally racing the clock to save his little boy.Will probably never be considered a great film, but is at least a pretty good one.Grade: B

I have to say that I absolutely hated this film, every minute of it. The main reason was Nick Nolte's performance. He turns the father into a ridiculous caricature of an Italian. I was amazed at the number of stereotypes you can actually get into one film. You might argue that this is only one point but for me that made it impossible to take the film seriously. The film itself seemed rather unfocused to me and was meandering on. Besides that I found it all in all fairly sentimental. It's a true story but to me it was too much of a tear jerker. I think there could have been a more interesting film about the topic with more information and deeper insights. So all in all not a film I would ever watch again, in fact I was actually pretty annoyed the first time I saw it.