The Waterdance (1992)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Directors:

Neal Jimenez
Michael Steinberg

Writer (WGA):

Neal Jimenez (written by)

Release Date:

13 May 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Imagine being trapped inside your own body. Imagine being set free.

Plot:

An oft overlooked film about struggling to deal with paralysis. Author Joel Garcia breaks his neck while hiking...

Plot Keywords:

Handicap | Sex Scene | Wheelchair | Racial Slur | Female Nudity

Awards:

5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Eric Stoltz	...	Joel Garcia
Helen Hunt	...	Anna
William Allen Young	...	Les
James Roach	...	Guy in the Electric Wheelchair
Elizabeth Peña	...	Rosa
Henry Harris	...	Mr. Gibson
Tony Genaro	...	Victor
Eva Rodriguez	...	Victor's Wife
Erick Vigil	...	Victor's Son
Edgar Rodriguez	...	Victor's Son
Angélica Castell	...	Victor's Daughter
William Forsythe	...	Bloss
Grace Zabriskie	...	Pat
Wesley Snipes	...	Raymond Hill
Kimberly Scott	...	Alice

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-10 | Germany:12 | Sweden:11 | USA:R | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

No Frills Film Production

Trivia:

This is a semi-autobiographical film for co-director Neal Jimenez who became a paraplegic after a hiking accident.

Quotes:

[after Joel nearly crashes the van they're in]
Joel Garcia: Boy, he sure came out of nowhere, didn't he?
Sang: It's a good thing we're already paralyzed.

Movie Connections:

References Ordinary People (1980)

A true-to-life story of rehabilitation

As a disabled person myself, I have seen firsthand the drama told in this movie. A rehab hospital is its own private world, a world where people are transformed and adapt to a new reality. The Waterdance comes as close as possible to capturing that world and relating it in terms that the general public can understand.

The central character is an author who was paralyzed in an auto accident. Along the way, we meet the typically diverse set of characters seen in such wards who have nothing in common except similar disabilities. The similarities are not enough, and an uneasy dynamic between them develops. There is the once dapper ladies' man who is thrown from the hospital into a nursing home, where he attempts suicide. There is the man who is lucky enough to have a supportive family. There is the once tough guy who wants to get even with a suit using a lawyer gotten off a TV ad. A social order develops with its own shifting loyalties and rules.

Through it all is Joel Garcia, going through his own changes and his own Hell. He seems to adapt easily, but he falls into traps along the way. The free drugs dull his senses. He doesn't know how he will cope with his life. Most of all, he and his lover (Helen Hunt), who is married to another man, must decide whether they will stay together as they had planned.

The Waterdance is one of a handful of films that deals honestly and wisely with the issues of disability. Like them (Coming Home, The Best Years of Their Lives), it may appear depressing at first, but it also highlights how strong people can be when faced with life's greatest challenge.

I just can't understand why he gave up Helen Hunt! I wouldn't have.