“A heavy-metal drummer’s life is thrown into freefall when he begins to lose his hearing.“
I had the opportunity to check out Sound of Metal during AFI Fest, and it was one of my favorite films from the festival. It was a film that stuck with me from the time the credits rolled as Riz Ahmed, and Darius Marder made a fantastic combination.
This past weekend, I had the chance to revisit the film ahead of its release in theaters on Friday and with it coming to Amazon Prime on December 4th. I want to share a few things with you that I appreciated upon the second viewing, and I will share my AFI review below.
The empathetic nature with which Marder starts the film is beautiful. Marder paints us the picture of the rockstar lifestyle that Ruben is in as we see him on stage, just rocking it out in his zone. But he also does a remarkable job of showing how quickly a life-altering challenge can take it all away in an instant.
A few other things I noticed upon my rewatch that I appreciated more.
- Paul Raci was fantastic in this film. He just had this ability to have this emotional, empathetic demeanor about him that made you invest and cling to every word that he spoke.
- At first I was upset cause there was a rumor that Olivia Cooke would be pushed in the Best Actress category, but those have been proven to be wrong. Cooke will run in the Supporting Actress category and I think she has a strong chance of being among the final five.
- Riz Ahmed belongs in the Best Actor five, period. End of Story. This role is profound, moving, and powerful, and he knocks it out of the ballpark.
- Darius Marder deserves equal recognition by the Academy from the screenplay to his direction, as this film is magnificent.
Check out my review of the film from AFI Fest: Sound of Metal AFI Fest Review
The Verdict:
Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal challenges us to walk in the shoes of the hard of hearing.
The Music City Drive-In 