The Elephant Man Essay

The film The Elephant Man by David Lynch is a heart-warming film that highlights the life of John Merrick better known as the elephant man from the streets of Victorian England. Like many films this movie has received numerous reviews both good and bad. Chris Loar is an example of a man who is a true admirer of the film. On the other hand Roger Ebert had nothing good to say about the film. I personally feel that the film was very well developed. Both Ebert and Loar had strong opinions about the film and voiced them in their reviews.

Roger Ebert felt the film left him with a bad taste in his mouth. He felt that the film was “pure sentimentalism” and that the film “glossed over” John Merrick’s real achievements. He discussed the performance and plot many times throughout his review. He felt the performances in the movie were adequate and as best as could be expected through all the makeup for John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins did well. As far as the plot goes Ebert thought it was just about the worst thing in the world. He commented on it several times throughout his review. In his opinion, the plot was far from accurate, the film attempted to make Merrick courageous, and he felt the beginning was “inexcusable” and the end was “equally idiotic”. The one thing Ebert seemed to disapprove of more was his idea of the argument of the film. He felt that the argument was that John Merrick was courageous. He completely disagreed with this and felt that true courage is a “man who chooses to face hardship for a good purpose” whereas he saw Merrick as the other kind of courageous, “a man who is simply doing the best he can under the circumstances”. Above all it was clear that Ebert is not a fan of the film.

On the other hand Chris Loar is a man who has nothing but wonderful things to say about the movie. He felt that it was a wonderful movie that “jettisons all of the sentimentality that might well have burdened a film about the travails of John Merrick”. He also discusses the performance and loves the “first-rate work” done by both Hurt and Hopkins. He admires the way Hurt could “blend self-hatred and pride” at the same time as show his disability and time everything to project the true John Merrick. He also applauses Hopkins as he is “nicely modulated” as the doctor that has no clue, morally, as to what it is he is doing. Another thing discussed in his review is the plot. He loved the plot and felt that it made viewers grow to love