BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

namashi_1 Based on courageous the true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone, two parents in a relentless search for a cure for their son Lorenzo's Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), 'Lorenzo's Oil' tells a tale so tragic yet moving, that it turns out to be An Extraordinary Film! Director George Miller & Actors Nick Nolte & Susan Sarandon bring this true story to life, with sensitivity & maturity. 'Lorenzo's Oil' is about how a family gives their all there is to cure their son from an incurable disease. The film is emotionally harrowing & also hard to watch at times. Your heart sinks for the child & your heartbreaks watching how his parents struggle. But, this is a courageous true-story about not giving up & fighting when life hits you hard. Sadly, Lorenzo, Augusto & Michaela Odone are not more among us. But, 'Lorenzo's Oil' is a salute to their spirits. Its a wonderful, challenging film, that doesn't deserve to be missed!Very Strongly Recommended!

Geoffrey DeLeons Certainly Nolte's best role and best acting job. Sarandon's best performance, as well. Rarely do we see a movie based on true events, with such an important inspirational message of faith and dogged determination, combined with such stellar screen writing, screenplay, acting and direction. Every moment of Lorenzo's Oil is captivating, without being oppressive. Engaging, without being overly technical or complicated. None of this was easy as a banker from a foreign country and his wife try, and succeed in, unraveling one of the most overlooked and urgent medical quandaries of the 20th century. Nolte's character is particularly unique in that his soft-spoken-yet-incisive charm proves critical in garnering support for his independent research. Sarandon's character's staunch refusal to accept the idea that her ill son can not hear nor appreciate displays of love shown to him informs all of us who have loved ones in intensive care, or any of the cognitive disorders that prevent communication as we clumsily define it. Love is never wasted. As I said, this is both Nolte's and Sarandon's performances of a lifetime. Add to this the vital message the movie imparts: "determination, study, work, can combine with faith for a positive experience", and you have a movie for the ages. On the cover of the VHS tape, it says, "Some people make their own miracles". Make yours today.

jliss11 Movie Critique by: Gaurav Paul Jonathan Liss Musaab HabibPlot Summary: The movie begins with a boy named Lorenzo Odone, who was normal until his 7th birthday. After that birthday, he began to have many problems, such as blackouts, memory lapses, and many other mental problems. After a while, he is diagnosed with a condition known as ALD, which is a brain disorder that could not be cured by modern medicine and is extremely rare. Basically the saturated fats, which would normally be destroyed by the body, build up in the brain depleting the myelin in the brain and therefore rapidly making simple functions of the body inoperable. Since many of the doctors in the area where he lived were not helpful to his condition, Lorenzo's parents began to learn more about the disease and how they can help Lorenzo. His parents looked at Lorenzo's disease the way they had prepared for journeys to foreign countries in the past; by studying their subject. In order to do so, both of his parents worked extremely hard reading up on biochemistry and other subject matter related to the disease. After much research and many long nights, his parents discover that what may be the secret to curing this disease is a purified olive oil. Unfortunately, they were literally only half right. Because of this mere 'half-success' in curing the disease his parent's studying continued until they found that a different oil, purified rapeseed oil, in combination with the purified oil would produce the chemicals needed to bring Lorenzo's saturated fat levels back to normal.THE CRITIQUE**Powerful Scenes *1st SceneScene begins with Augusto Odone speaking to Professor Nikolias - Augusto asks the professor if any progress was being made with any of the other kids who have ALD Then, the professor said that it is too early to tell whether any progress is being made with Lorenzo, and says that they have to wait six months After this, Augusto asks in an angry manner whether waiting six months will produce any results *2nd SceneScene begins with Augusto speaking to Michaela about what they first did when they went to the Comoros Augusto says that they got to learn the country, what resources it had, its laws, and many other things-Then, Augusto compares that with ALD and says that it also has many dimensions, so in order to learn more about it, one must know about many branches of science, such as chemistry, biology, and neurology-Then Michaela says that they don't have time to learn about all those branches of science Augusto then argues that the doctors don't know anything and that they need to take the treatment of Lorenzo into their hands Scene ends with Augusto saying that Lorenzo expects them to take care of him**Recommendations for how the movie could have been better, and what was good about the movieThe movie was supposed to be about poverty, but did not talk about the five dimensions of poverty, which are food, shelter, clothing, education, and health care - this only under the assumption that the movie would relate to the topic that we'd been given (poverty) directly The movie showed that they didn't have good health care or education, and not it was not only them they didn't have these things, as even the doctors in their area did not have a good education as they knew nothing about the disease that Lorenzo had. This, though was not directly stated as a main point of the movie and it was left to the viewer to deduce this. Also, the whole movie focused on how they could cure Lorenzo's disease, but didn't talk about poverty as much, or how they were trying to end poverty; again under the assumption that the movie would relate to poverty directly However, the movie, indirectly, showed that without the money that Lorenzo's parents had, Lorenzo would not have had the resources to cure - or at least help - the disease he was suffering from. For instance, someone in a much lower income family than Lorenzo's wouldn't have been able to afford a personal nurse or health-care in the hospital good enough to attend to the patients ALD needs.

evanston_dad An inspiring true-life account of a husband and wife who, out of desperation, discover a treatment for their son's disease that otherwise had been dismissed by the medical community as untreatable.This is Lifetime movie stuff, and at any number of moments the film threatens to topple over into the overly maudlin and treacly. But it mostly avoids those pitfalls thanks largely to Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon, who play the mom and dad and who make this film worth watching. Sarandon's role is a bit more stock, that of the suffering mother. But Nolte is ferocious as a man with an obsession, literally racing the clock to save his little boy.Will probably never be considered a great film, but is at least a pretty good one.Grade: B