Lorenzo's Oil (1992)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Mike S

  
  There's nothing more horrible than watching an innocent young child suffer in agony. In this heart-gripping drama, we follow two desperate parents (Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon) as they struggle to find a cure for their son, who has fallen victim to a rare disease known as ALD.… More
  There's nothing more horrible than watching an innocent young child suffer in agony. In this heart-gripping drama, we follow two desperate parents (Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon) as they struggle to find a cure for their son, who has fallen victim to a rare disease known as ALD. Fine performances by everyone in the cast, and in particular by Zack O'Malley, who does some of the best acting I've ever seen by someone of his age. You're truly enveloped by the pain that he goes through, which often makes it an uncomfortable watch. Seldom have I felt so engaged as to the outcome of a character's fate. And I can imagine it must be even more compelling to those who are parents themselves. A powerful story altogether, that despite some tendencies to drag, will leave you affected in one way or another.

• AJ V

  
  A great true story, but it's so boring as a film. I had to watch this in a class I had once, and I just couldn't get into it, it was dull. I'd only recommend this to real die hard drama fans who love real life stories played realistically. Overall, it's pretty… More
  A great true story, but it's so boring as a film. I had to watch this in a class I had once, and I just couldn't get into it, it was dull. I'd only recommend this to real die hard drama fans who love real life stories played realistically. Overall, it's pretty good, but could have been more exciting.

• jay n

  
  Emotionally harrowing film of a dedicated and persistent couple's struggle to find help for their son when he falls victim to a terminal illness. Intensely real performance by Susan Sarandon and a strong one from Nick Nolte although his accent while accurate for the character… More
  Emotionally harrowing film of a dedicated and persistent couple's struggle to find help for their son when he falls victim to a terminal illness. Intensely real performance by Susan Sarandon and a strong one from Nick Nolte although his accent while accurate for the character makes it difficult to understand him occasionally. Beautifully true supporting performances but it is hard to watch what Lorenzo has to go through. A shattering experience at times but worthwhile.

• Steve K

  
  Criminally underseen and astonishingly powerful.

• Dean M

  
  Extraordinary true-life story of two devoted parents who, discovering that their young son has the fatal disease ALD, set out to find a cure despite having no medical knowledge.

• Cody H

  
  An emotionally draining examination of possibly the most relentless and heartless disease I've ever heard of, Lorenzo's Oil is well wrought, and most definitely worth watching, due largely in part to the fine performances and educatory stance the film takes. It may frustrate… More
  An emotionally draining examination of possibly the most relentless and heartless disease I've ever heard of, Lorenzo's Oil is well wrought, and most definitely worth watching, due largely in part to the fine performances and educatory stance the film takes. It may frustrate you, but it will undoubtedly affect you.

• Dannielle A

  
  A true story about two determined parents who fight to find a cure for their son Lorenzo who has been diagnosed with a rare terminal illness. I found the movie quite boring sometimes when talking about the technical scientific parts of the disease but other times I found myself filled… More
  A true story about two determined parents who fight to find a cure for their son Lorenzo who has been diagnosed with a rare terminal illness. I found the movie quite boring sometimes when talking about the technical scientific parts of the disease but other times I found myself filled with tears during emotional and heartwarming moments. This movie was very inspiring. However, it could have been a lot better. For one thing, I felt like I was listening to Tommy Pickles' baby gurgling the whole time which was very annoying and distracted me. (This is because Elizabeth Daily played Lorzenzo's heavy breathing. She is also the voice of Tommy Pickles on the Nickelodeon TV show "Rugrats.") Also, sometimes the movie was so technical, it would appeal to someone with a scientific mind and lose people who have less interest in the science and more in the relationships. The acting was really good in this movie and I was very impressed with Zack O'Malley Greenburg's acting. He must have been QUITE a child actor or maybe he really did have a disease. He also spoke different languages! Wow. There was also a slightly heavy-handed scene where the father falls down the stairs and starts tearing at his shirt. This was bizarre and concerning but maybe a parent really would act like that if he knew his son would probably die and there wasn't much he could do about it. The best part of this movie was seeing the love that Lorenzo's parents had for him, and watching his mother Michaela reading to him and talking to him as a human being, not a vegetable, even though he was incapacitated and couldn't respond without blinking his eyes and moving his pinky finger.

• Lee K

  
  A very depressing yet incredibly good look at the father that discovered Lorenzo's Oil the medicine that helps kids and people in general that are afflicted with the terrible disease a.l.d. This is a insperational film of one set of parents that defy all the odds and just wont… More
  A very depressing yet incredibly good look at the father that discovered Lorenzo's Oil the medicine that helps kids and people in general that are afflicted with the terrible disease a.l.d. This is a insperational film of one set of parents that defy all the odds and just wont take no for an answer about their child. when alot of parents unfortunatly wouldve given up. A very moving film.

• Sunil J

  
  Depressing and simple but good acting.

• *Kimberly *

  
  A profound and inspirational real-life story about the strength of a family who dares to ask questions and take action when their child is faced with a terminal illness. impeccable casting and performance. this moved me to tears more than once.

Read all 10 featured audience ratings