Thought this was an interesting review from another site:
I had the pleasure of attending the premiere of Hallmark Hall of Fame
television film "Riding the Bus with My Sister" last night at the
Directors' Guild Theatre in Hollywood, CA. The show will air this
coming Sunday, May 1st, on CBS (check you local listings). Star and
Executive Producer Rosie O'Donnell who plays Beth (a woman with an
intellectual disability) with Andie MacDowell who plays Beth's sister
Rachel and Director Anjelica Huston arrived at the event in a city bus
before ascending the red carpet. It was very cute! Rachel Simon, my
host and author of the book, was there and said that she was pleased
with the screenplay written by Joyce Elison.
Knowing how Hollywood has to change a story to impact an audience in
much less time then a book, I was also very pleased with the script.
The basic message of the book still remains with a lovely story; I
laughed, I cried, you get the picture.
My thoughts are that Rosie O'Donnell played Beth as all stars seem to
play characters with disabilities, especially those with developmental
disabilities, a little over the top. At the beginning of the film she
came on like gang busters, loud and in your face, she seemed to mellow
into the role as the film went on, or I just got use to the portrayal.
I often wonder how much study goes into a role like this, (I have no
idea how Rosie researched her role) and where some of the idiosyncrasies
come from.
Rosie held her lower jaw forward to create her character which worked
nicely, but when she would thrust her tongue out I was amused. It seems
to me that the tongue thrust is specific to the extra chromosome of Down
syndrome, not just a sign of a lower IQ. When I work with typical
actors to develop a character with a developmental disability we spend
time talking about mouth breathing and leaving open lips when the mouth
is at rest since that is often a good characteristic to use. I can't
recall anyone I know with the tongue thrust who does not have DS and
wouldn't suggest it to any actor creating a character unless they had
the DS face to go with it.
But those are just my hyper critical observations of a very entertaining
film. I hope you all get a chance to watch it, and by all means, still
read the book for the lovely story Rachel tells. The Hallmark link
below will give you the facts.
I give it 4 Chromosomes on a scale of 1 to 5!
pressroom.hallmark.com/hhof_riding_the_bus.htmlGail Williamson
Executive Director
Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles
315 Arden Avenue, Suite 25
Glendale, CA 91203
818-242-7871 voice
818-242-7819 fax
www.dsala.org