Film Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Dominick and Eugene
Directed by Robert M. Young
Warner Home Video 12/88 DVD/VHS Feature Film
PG-13

The skills and personal vibrancy of individuals with disabilities need to be repeatedly emphasized to the American public. Even the most severe disabilities are conditions that can be and have been overcome. Dominick and Eugene is set in a working class neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Dominick, played by Tom Hulce of Amadeus, and Eugene, played by Ray Liotta of Something Wild, are 25-year-old fraternal twins. Dominick is developmentally disabled due to a childhood accident. He is a sweet and gentel man who works on a garbage crew as a helper. His salary is putting Eugene through medical school. A crisis arises as the time approaches when Eugene is to begin his residency at Stanford. Will Dominick be able to survive without him? The emotionally affecting screenplay by Alvin Sargent and Corey Blechman focuses on how change and the outside world intrude upon the love these two brothers have for each other. Director Robert M. Young draws out fine performances from the two leads and from Jamie Lee Curtis as Eugene's girlfriend. The director has said of the film, "I am attracted to stories about people who get a raw deal from life but who refuse to be osers, who maintain their dignity." Dominick and Eugene affirms and celebrates human dignity in a convincing manner.

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat