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It's funny how movies about people pretending to be mentally challenged, such as The Ringer or The Idiots, are always thought to be in questionable taste, whereas movies in which actors play mentally challenged characters straight-up are hailed as heartwarming and sensitive. Such actors are invariably nominated for Oscars, as though Academy voters are awestruck by the way they've managed to disguise their dazzling intellects.
I blame John Mills (right), whose Village Idiot in Ryan's Daughter was Quasimodo with wacky teeth. But at least he was mute, which is more than we can say for John Malkovich in Of Mice and Men. He sounds like Pebbles from The Flintstones. Meanwhile, Sean Penn talks as though his mouth is full of mashed potato in I Am Sam and, like Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, demonstrates uncool fashion sense by shambling
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Acting stupid is a simple way for a star to pick up a statuette, argues anne billson |
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along in a shapeless anorak; and in The Other Sister, Juliette Lewis wanders around with food stuck to the back of her skirt.
With her West Coast drawl, Lewis sounds backward at the best of times, which prompts one to paraphrase Dorothy Parker: when Hollywood stars play retards, how can you tell?
Only Leonardo Di Caprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape? manages not to be cringe-making. But the best way to avoid all this embarrassment is to hire actors who really are mentally challenged. It works for The Ringer, whose supporting cast includes 150 disabled performers - and it works splendidly for Peter Mullan's film Orphans, in which Rosemarie Stevenson, an actress with cerebral palsy, shows all those shambling Oscar-winners a thing or two. 
FIRST POSTED MARCH 30, 2006
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