Lorenzo's Oil (1992)

A boy develops a disease so rare that nobody is working on a cure, so his father decides to learn all about it and tackle the problem himself.

Director:

George Miller

Writers:

George Miller, Nick Enright

Stars:

Nick Nolte, Susan Sarandon, Peter Ustinov

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nick Nolte	...	Augusto Odone
Susan Sarandon	...	Michaela Odone
Peter Ustinov	...	Professor Nikolais
Kathleen Wilhoite	...	Deirdre Murphy
Gerry Bamman	...	Doctor Judalon
Margo Martindale	...	Wendy Gimble
James Rebhorn	...	Ellard Muscatine
Ann Hearn	...	Loretta Muscatine
Maduka Steady	...	Omouri
Mary Wakio	...	Comorian Teacher
Don Suddaby	...	Himself
Colin Ward	...	Jake Gimble
LaTanya Richardson Jackson	...	Nurse Ruth (as La Tanya Richardson)
Jennifer Dundas	...	Nurse Nancy Jo
William Cameron	...	Pellerman

Storyline

Until about the age of seven, Lorenzo Odone was a normal child. After then, strange things began to happen to him: he would have blackouts, memory lapses, and other strange mental phemonenons. He is eventually diagnosed as suffering from ALD (adrenoleukodystrophy): an extremely rare incurable degenerative brain disorder. Frustrated at the failings of doctors and medicine in this area, the Odones begin to educate themselves in the hope of discovering something which can halt the progress of the disease.

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Plot Keywords:

hope | doctor | reference to jesus christ | what happened to epilogue | ends with real life footage | 

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Taglines:

Some people make their own miracles.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for a child's life threatening ordeal

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

29 January 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un milagro para Lorenzo

Filming Locations:

Washington Dulles International Airport - 45020 Aviation Drive, Sterling, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$7,286,388

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Kennedy Miller Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a 2014 interview at the Florida Film Festival, Susan Sarandon said that this movie was originally conceived and shot with the intent that as Lorenzo got sicker and sicker, the movie would fade from color to black-and-white. However, the production ran out of the money needed to process the film in that way, and the movie ended up being in color from beginning to end. She also said that this was actually the second movie in her career for which this had happened, that originally, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) was supposed to be in black-and-white until the first appearance of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, when his red lips would have been the first item in color in the movie, but again, the production didn't have the money to process the film in that way, so the whole thing stayed in color.

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Quotes

Ellard Muscatine: When Michael, our first boy, got sick, we searched around looking for anything that might help him. You know what was the best thing that happened? He was taken quickly. Now Tommy... he has lasted three years, for two of them, he's been without his sight, his mind, everything that makes him a human being, he's a vegetable. Y'know if you would just stop all this denial, you wouldn't do a thing to prolong your boy's suffering and indignity one minute longer.
Loretta Muscatine: Has it occurred to you that maybe he ...

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Crazy Credits

Lorenzo's scream is heard right at the very end of the film.

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Connections

Referenced in American Dad!: Stan's Best Friend (2012)

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Soundtracks

Norma - Introduction to Act II
Performed by Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala (as Orchestra of La Scala Opera House)
Conducted by Tullio Serafin

User Reviews

A story about hope.

Lorenzo's oil

A true story about a battle for the life of Lorenzo who suffers from ALD. A rare disease which destroys all basic functions like speech and movement and in the end takes the life of the person. In this movie the parents fight the clock by doing their own research and investigation.

This is a true masterpiece, about hope. Acting and directing are fabulous. You can feel the cast being involved. I have seen a a lot of movies of Nick Nolte , but this must be one of his better ones. Here he proves he can do more than "another 48 hours". Nick is convincing in every way in this movie, even though he has a very hard part playing an Italian(Augusto Odone).

Susan Sarandon plays the mother of Lorenzo. It's incredible how she plays the part of a mother near the end of her powers pushing away everybody that does not share the same faith in saving the life of her son.

This movie is underrated, and should be given a chance. I seen a lot of movies and normally i do not watch this kind of movies, they cannot hold m y attention for long. But this one is different and really heartbreaking.

I had never heard about ALD. So today i did some investigation, and found out that Lorenzo still lives and you can write him if you want