Starting his new job as an instructor at a New England school for the deaf, James Leeds meets Sarah Norman, a young deaf woman who works at the school as a member of the custodial staff. In spite of Sarah's withdrawn emotional state, a romance slowly develops between the pair.
"She is the most mysterious, independent, beautiful, angry person he has ever met. He is the first man who has ever gotten close enough to love her."
Top Billed Cast
William Hurt
James Leeds
Marlee Matlin
Sarah Norman
Piper Laurie
Mrs. Norman
Philip Bosco
Dr. Curtis Franklin
Allison Gompf
Lydia
John F. Cleary
Johnny
Philip Holmes
Glen
Georgia Ann Cline
Cheryl
Detailed Critic & Audience Reviews
W WuchakVerified TMDB Critic
2019-02-10
***A school for the deaf on a Maine island with William Hurt and Marlee Matlin***
A teacher (William Hurt) moves to coastal Maine to work at a school for the deaf on an island where he becomes interested in a striking, but disturbed janitor (Marlee Matlin), who was once a student there.
"Children of a Lesser God" (1986) is part celestial and mundane; beautiful and profane. Thankfully there’s more beauty. The Northeast coastal locations are wonderful and Hurt makes for a worthy protagonist while expertly pulling off a difficult role. Marlee Matlin is an exquisite revelation without whic...
C CinemaSerfVerified TMDB Critic
2024-04-11
Acclaimed teacher "James" (William Hurt) arrives at a school for the deaf where his very "hands on" techniques rather shake the established order of superintendent "Franklin" (Philip Bosco). His pupils make good progress, though, as his methods start to encourage them to speak more and act with much more confidence amidst each other and amongst the talking community at large. Soon they playing a bit of second fiddle to the enigmatic "Sarah" (Marlee Matlin). She's now the school caretaker and has a reputation as a bit stand-offish and temperamental, but it turns out that she, too, is deaf and t...
