Louder than Words movie review (2014)

But not to Maria, for she is the self-declared glue who holds them all together and a child of wonder who illuminates her father’s universe. He willingly reveals to his favorite child the very principle that guides his life and work: “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.” Translation: “I will do whatever I want and apologize later.“ Nice guy, that John.

OK then. By the time a half-hour or so ticks by, our heroine–who, while annoyingly precocious, has more of a pulse than any of the other performers onscreen–has already met her demise. But not before, in a series of disjointed scenes, she shows off her outgoing personality by singing a little ditty with her pals, confessing she has a crush on a boy and joking around with her father, who barely ever acknowledges his other offspring, while fishing together on a two-person camping trip. The very outing, apparently, that led to her being exposed to the fatal disease.

Now grief-stricken, the rest of the family drifts farther apart. Dad becomes more of a non-presence than ever while Mom goes on mad cleaning sprees. The moody daughter runs off to Seattle with her boyfriend. And, at a Boston college, the scholarly daughter finds refuge in her school work while her brother skips his classes and mopes. At least the siblings share one bond: chain-smoking.

But then John decides to flip through Maria’s journal while in her shrine of a bedroom. He spots the mention of an English class assignment asking her to write about her wish. Although being a star or a famous scientist are her initial thoughts, she settles on: “I wish for the health and well-being of all the children of the world.” 

When a zombie-esque Duchovny isn’t busy staring off into space, his John is making haphazard attempts to allow Maria’s dream to come true by coming up with a hospital plan.

He brings in a specialist (Timothy Hutton, who at least provides a smile or two) but fails to include or even inform his wife of his efforts. Eventually, plates are smashed, voices are raised and the healing begins. As for the project, after several hurdles such as recruiting members of their well-off community as donors, John and Brenda succeed with what seems like an average amount of handwringing to make the proposal a reality–despite the fact it actually took nine years to complete.

What is harder to achieve than building a hospital? Producing a realistic movie about coping with grief by helping others–at least for the filmmakers behind “Louder Than Words.”