No Ordinary Hero: The Super Deafy Movie (2013/Icarus/Kimstim DVD)

Picture: B- Sound: B- Extras: C Film: C-

This family friendly (but corny) film has a good heart and intentions, so it's hard to knock it for being second rate entertainment, but it is. In Troy Kotsur's No Ordinary Hero: The Super Deafy Movie (2013), poor Dean (Emjay Anthony) gets made fun of at school constantly for being deaf. It seems like even his own family can't get through to him, but when a deaf actor who plays a superhero on television looks beyond his cape to influence Jacob to redefine what being normal means, he also finds inspiration to transform himself.

The film also stars John Maucere, Michelle Nunes, Marlee Matlin, Ashley Fiolek, Peter Hulne & Zane Hencker. The message behind the film is that deaf are just people like the rest of us and to respect everyone equally. The film succeeds in delivering this message and is fine for a young adult audience. That being said, the acting and production value is nothing special and an overall sense of cinematic style is almost completely absent. This looks sunny, cheerful, and very 'TV movie'.

The presentation on the disc is standard for DVD with a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track. There are subtitles on the disc as well.

Extras include an Interview with Marlee Matlin, Official Trailer, and a Playable with Audio Description (AD) for the visually impaired.

In short, this family friendly drama/comedy is fine for young audiences or to show an elementary or middle school to teach kids to respect one another. Outside of that, it's nothing more than a teaching tool and not an incredibly entertaining film.

- James Harland Lockhart V

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