Lorenzo's Oil (1992)

Release date: 1993-01-29
Country: USA
Language: English|Italian
Director: George Miller
Production Co: Universal Pictures, Kennedy Miller Productions
Genre: Drama
Rating: 7.3/10
Length: 2h 9min

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.

Plot Keywords

hope, doctor, reference to jesus christ, reading, flash forward, time lapse photography, cigarette smoking, christmas, christmas tree, blood, bleeding, catholic church, christian, brother sister relationship, sister sister relationship, school, children, dementia, coma, guilt

Short Review

The questions this movie raises about the medical establishment, drug testing and the clash between science and compassion cannot fail to evoke the battles raging over AIDS. Lorenzo's Oil is strong medicine indeed.