Children of a Lesser God

Children of a Lesser God Randa Haines's Children of a Lesser God might have impressed this writer more if
he hadn't already seen the director's much better Dance with Me, a film that empl
oys similar cinematic clich¨¦s to much greater effect. This 1986 offering ¡ª a cu
lt favorite among fans of mushy faux sentimentality ¡ª attempts to tell the story
of John Leeds (William Hurt), a special-education teacher, and his increasingly
complex relationship with the deaf and mute Sarah (Marlee Martin), a former stude
nt who now works as a janitor. Although Leeds initially wants nothing more than t
o teach the reclusive prodigy how to speak, he finds himself coming...