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Film Review -Breathe (2017)

The Life of Robin Cavendish

If you have never heard of Robin Cavendish before, you aren’t the only one.  If not for how he lived with a severe disability, most likely nobody ever would have.  In 1958, two years into his marriage to Diana, Robin contracted polio and was paralyzed from the neck down. Initially given less than a year to live,  Robin indicated his wish to die. But Diana refused to allow this.  She entreated him to live for the sake of their son.

Robin gradually improved to the point that he could swallow and speak. But for the rest of his life he was dependent on the use of artificial respirators to help him keep him alive. Eventually, Diana and some hospital staff literally broke him out of the hospital against his doctor’s advice. At this time, no one with his level of disability had ever been released or survived outside of a hospital.

Over the next thirty years of his life, Robin and Diana became champions for disabled people. They  also helped inspire and pioneer ways to integrate people like himself into everyday society. Some of these ideas include a mobile wheelchair with a built in respirator, a hydraulic chair lift for his van, as well as equipment that allowed him to perform simple tasks by moving his head.  He was also instrumental in creating the first list of people who used iron lungs as well as in fundraising efforts to improve their quality of life. In their personal lives the two pushed Robin’s boundaries, living as adventurously as possible, while raising their son and remaining committed to each other.

To read my full review of this film,  please follow me over to The Silver Petticoat Review.

 

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Film Review -Tommy’s Honour (2016)

History is a treasure trove full of inspirational stories of real life people and I love seeing these stories brought to wider attention on the screen.

SUMMARY

Tommy’ s Honour is the tale of the father and son who are considered the founders of modern golf and is based on a book by Kevin Cook. Old Tom Morris’ is a champion golfer whose glory days are passing but he’s still well respected as the greens keeper and professional at St. Andrews. He and his son Tommy Jr. act as caddies to the local gentlemen golfers of the St. Andrews club while also running their shop selling golf equipment.

As a teenager, Tommy soon begins to surpass his father’s fame with his own advanced skills earning him respect. This leads to Tommy being chosen in place of his father in challenger games. These games are set up by the titled and wealthy who put up the money to stake the game, betting their Sugarhouse Promo Code on a player against a challenger from another course. The winner receives whatever profits the organizers decide to share with him.

Of course, Tommy wins many of these matches and then begins winning professional golf tournaments. But Tommy’s modern ideas both in how to play the game and also his belief in his own equality with the upper class who sponsor him, clash with his father’s more traditional views. And when he falls in love with an older woman with a tainted past, he alienates his mother.

To read my full review of this underrated film, please follow me over to The Silver Petticoat Review.