Passion Fish

Your typical strong John Sayles film. This guy cares about developing these characters into real human beings, and so does the cast. Lovely.

Mary McDonnel is a soap opera star who is suddenly a quadriplegic and is having a lot of difficulty learning how to cope. She drives away one caretaker after the next, until a recovering addict nurse (Alfre Woodard) comes along. The two form an unlikely bond. Interesting side stories. The movie is full of emotion and the acting is superb throughout. Even though it is a sometimes painful story, the performances are strong, and the people are genuine and real.

Sayles gives a mature look at a developing friendship that comes from necessity. McDonnell starts as an archetypal screaming narcissist that evolves into something more human, while Woodard's stoicism is allowed to crack by the film's end. The second half is much stronger than the first, with Sayles showing an abundant amount of Louisiana landscapes to go along with his rich characters.