Riding the Bus with My Sister (2005) (TV)

Director:

Anjelica Huston

Writers (WGA):

Rachel Simon (book)
Joyce Eliason (teleplay)

Release Date:

1 May 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A woman spends time with her developmental disabled sister after the death of their father. |

Plot Keywords:

Cult Favorite | Sister Sister Relationship | Black Belt | Disabled Person | Bus Driver

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Rosie O'Donnell	...	Beth Simon
Andie MacDowell	...	Rachel Simon
Richard T. Jones	...	Jesse
D.W. Moffett	...	Rick
Roberta Maxwell	...	Valerie
Peter Cockett	...	Sam
Tom Barnett	...	Bobby
Jayne Eastwood	...	Estella
Stephanie Morgenstern	...	Olivia
Allegra Fulton	...	Vera
Boyd Banks	...	Henry
Shauna MacDonald	...	Nona
Simon Reynolds	...	Morris
Vijay Mehta	...	Pradlip
Diane Bald	...	Art Dealer

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Blue Ridge Motion Pictures

Quotes:

Beth Simon: You're the hippopotamus!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Gilmore Girls: Always a Godmother, Never a God (#6.4)" (2005)

O'Donnell Redefines the term "bad actress"

This was basically your standard Lifetime network kind of drama, with one, horrid exception: Rosie O'Donnell. I hear she produced this movie, which I suppose is the best explanation for why no one on the production acted to remove her for another more qualfied actress.

Evidently Rosie subscribes to the "worst stereotypes of mentally handicapped persons" school of acting. She balls up her fists and hold them close to my chest, like some gigantic flightless bird. She juts her lower chin out, her face frozen with about as much depth of feeling as an extra in a George Romero "Living Dead" movie...and her voice. It is not an exaggeration to say, if it were used against Iraqi prisoners, it would be at the top of the Human Rights violations list. This combination croak / screech - Gilford Godfrey, part Pee-Wee Herman, and part "Which Way Did He Go, George?" - is in fact a talent; neither my wife nor I could actually reproduce this noise she was making. Mentally challenged folk do not look like this, do not talk like this. Her performance insults them.

She is an insult to acting. Watching 10 seconds of her insulted my intelligence as well as assaulted my senses. The actors who worked with her should have their therapy bills covered by the studio.