39 Pounds of Love (2005)
Average Rating: 5.9/10
Reviews Counted: 33
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 13
39 Pounds of Love is a heart-tugger that often crosses the line between uplifting and sappy.
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Critic Reviews: 17
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 8
39 Pounds of Love is a heart-tugger that often crosses the line between uplifting and sappy.
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Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 3,343
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Movie Info
Ami Ankilewitz was born a normal child, but he contracted a rare form of muscular dystrophy when quite young and was not expected to live past the age of six. Ankilewitz managed to beat the odds, and at the age of 34, he was alive and living with his disabilities; despite weighing only 39 pounds and having very limited mobility, Ankilewitz worked as a digital animator in Israel, and had fallen in love with Christina, one of the caregivers who looked after him. When Ankilewitz's romance with
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All Critics (35) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (20) | Rotten (13)
It's not quite on the level of Enron, or even other disability-themed nominees such as Murderball. But with a subject like Ami Ankilewitz, nitpicking seems out of the question.
Top CriticSo inherently poignant, a conservative approach would have been wise.
Stirring, sobering, and manipulative enough to be slightly suspect.
An uplifting documentary.
39 Pounds of Love is a heavyweight emotional champion. Although deserving such adjectives as lovely, loving and inspiring, the documentary steers clear of cloying excess.
None of this is intended to detract from the courage and will of Ami Ankilewitz. His life is extraordinary. But he has not been well served by the documentarians.
If one ignores the excesses, 39 Pounds of Love becomes a road trip worth taking.
This leaves you wanting to know more about Ami, and at the same time feeling a bit cheated that they didn't give you enough.
quietly powerful
Ami seems to be very much The Poster Boy for himself, but not for the severely disabled in general, even though this will easily, if erroneously, be read into the film.
Despite an anticlimactic finale and a flimsy storyline, there are enough endearing moments of hope and redemption here to keep 39 Pounds worth its weight.
Despite Menkin's clear belief that he's crafted a rousing true-life drama, his film plays like a cliché-ridden, painfully self-conscious Hollywood melodrama about a noble person with disabilities.
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November 16, 2005:
"Penguins," "Murderball," and 13 Other Docs Vie for Oscar EligibilityVariety's Award Central brings news on the 15 documentary films that have been...
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