They say silence is golden. It’s a silly phrase,
really, but it takes on an urgent poignancy
for three stunning minutes in “CODA,” Siân
Heder’s refreshing, loving and altogether
irresistible film about a deaf family with one
hearing daughter.
In this extraordinary scene, Ruby, 17
(impressive newcomer Emilia Jones) and
mother Jackie (a superb Marlee Matlin) are
having a heart-to-heart in Ruby’s bedroom
— something all of us moms and daughters
have experienced, except not, because one is
deaf and the other isn’t. Ruby asks her mom
if she ever wished that she, her only hearing
child, were deaf. The answer will both make
you smile and break your heart, like a lot of
this movie. And then you’ll realize that for
the entire three minutes, you’ve barely heard
a sound — no spoken dialogue, just the very
faintest hint of music, and the flutters of
movement that accompany signing.
If there’s a flaw to “CODA” — the title stems
from the term “child of deaf adult” -- it may
be that it wears its brimming heart on its
sleeve to such an extent that it occasionally
nears that fine line into formula, especially
when it invents plot-moving conflicts
that seem unnecessary. But somehow it
never crosses the line, and if you see a few
predictable moments coming ... well, so
what? They work — boy, do they ever. If this
is formula, I’m OK with that, and can you pass
the Kleenex? There’s something in my eye.
Heder, who adapted her screenplay from the
2014 French film “La Famille Belier,” makes
crucially effective decisions throughout,
but none more important than the casting,