Rent Mask (1985)

Moving True Story Drama - Mask review by GI

Influenced by the story of John Merrick and the film The Elephant Man (1980) this is also based on a real story of a young man with a huge facial deformity and who is judged on his appearance but gradually wins people over by his gentle and supportive nature and his high intelligence. Rocky Dennis (Eric Stoltz in a career best performance) has 'Lionitis', a rare disfiguring disease which affects the bones in his head and face. Raised by his mother, Rusty, he has a far from normal family life as well. Rusty is a feisty, formidable woman and part of a biker gang. She uses heroin and opens her house to the bikers who have become Rusty's surrogate family. This maybe a film about Rocky but the film is certainly dominated by Cher's performance as Rusty. She is quite remarkable here and this is arguably her finest role especially as she was quite inexperienced as an actor. Sam Elliott (always superb) plays her lover, Gar, also a father figure to Rocky. Elliott seems a natural to play a biker gang leader and I love how he brings stability to their lives even though you sense he is always on the edge of violence. When we first meet Gar he hugs Rocky and gives him a butterfly knife. Brilliant! But it's Rocky, the deformed teenager with a terminal disease, who tries to stabilise his mother's wayward life and this gives the film a neat subversiveness to the family melodrama scenario. Where the film loses it's way a little is in Rocky's attempt at a relationship with a blind girl (a first big role for Laura Dern). This slips the film in a maudlin sentimentality and a predictability that doesn't fit well. That aside this is a wonderful film and with a restored soundtrack by Bruce Springsteen it's newly available on DVD & BluRay. If you've never seen this then I highly recommend it.