Mask (film)
Encyclopedia
Mask is a 1985 American biographical
drama film
directed by Peter Bogdanovich
, starring Cher
, Sam Elliott
, and Eric Stoltz
. Dennis Burkley
and Laura Dern
are featured in supporting roles. Cher
received the 1985 Cannes Film Festival
award for Best Actress
.
The film is based on the life and early death of Roy L. "Rocky" Dennis
, a boy who suffered from craniodiaphyseal dysplasia
, an extremely rare disorder known commonly as lionitis due to the disfiguring cranial enlargements that it causes. Mask won the Academy Award for Best Makeup while Cher and Stoltz received Golden Globe nominations for their performances.
), who suffers from a skull deformity, is accepted without question by his freewheeling biker mother's boyfriends, the extended motorcycle family, and his maternal grandparents (who share his love of baseball card
collecting) but treated with fear, pity, awkwardness, and teasing by those unaware of his humanity, humor, and intelligence. Rocky's mother, Florence "Rusty" Dennis (Cher
) is determined to give Rocky as normal a life as possible, in spite of her own wild ways as a member of the biker gang
. She fights for Rocky's inclusion in a mainstream junior high school, and she confronts a principal who would rather classify Rocky with mental retardation
and relegate him to a special education
school to fulfill his special needs. Rusty asks the principal if they teach "algebra
, biology
, and English
at this school, because...these are Rocky's needs."
Rocky goes on to thrive at school. He wins friends by assisting a locker neighbor in remembering his combination. Using humor when faced with an awkward silence during roll call, Rocky just repeats the prior new student's line "Wow, thanks a lot." The class turns to smile and laugh with Rocky. He shows his brilliance in History class by giving a terrific rendition of the Greek myth about the Trojan Horse
and it being the starting point of the Trojan Wars. Gradually overcoming discrimination
and tutoring his classmates for $3 per hour, the principal asks Rocky to accept a job as a counselor's aide at Camp Bloomfield
, a summer camp
for the junior blind. At his graduation from junior high, Rocky takes home the academic achievement prizes in mathematics, history and science.
Rocky feels the need to leave his chronically depressed and drug addicted mother, and in a tough love way, he helps Rusty help herself break her drug habit. At camp Rocky falls in love with Diana Adams (18-year-old Laura Dern
), a blind girl who cannot see (but feels) his deformed countenance and is entranced by Rocky's kindness and compassion. Rocky uses his intelligence to explain to Diana the sighted words like billowy, clouds, red and blue by using cotton balls as a touchable vision of billowy clouds, a boiling hot rock to explain red hot and a frozen rock to explain icy blue. Diana introduces Rocky to her parents, who have a suspicious feeling about Rocky, due to his appearance. It becomes clear that Diana is overprotected by her parents, who don't give any messages to her, nor is she allowed to answer the phone, when Rocky calls from home.
Near the end of the film, Rocky faces the pain of separation from his girlfriend who goes away to a Special School for the Blind and the collapse of his dream motorbike trip through Europe when his best friend who was to come with him moves back to Michigan for good. However, Rocky feels better after taking a bus trip by himself to visit Diana at the equestrian stables, located near Griffith Park. Diana tells Rocky that she never received the phone messages from her parents, and this visit was to be Rocky's final encounter with Diana. One evening when Rocky's "Biker Family" is visiting, Rocky is fighting a fierce headache and quietly withdraws to his room. However, Rocky dies in his sleep that evening. Finding her dead son the next morning Rusty flies into a fit of hurt and anger. Rusty then re-pins Rocky's map of Europe and poetically says, "Now you can go anywhere you want, Baby."
The movie ends with Rocky's biker family, Rusty, Gar and Dozer, visiting his grave, leaving flowers and some 1955 Brooklyn Dodger baseball cards by his headstone. A prized poem Rocky penned earlier in the movie closes the film:
songs on the film's soundtrack, but due to an impasse between Universal and Springsteen's label, Columbia Records
, the songs were pulled from the film and replaced with songs by Bob Seger
for the original theatrical release, prompting a $19 million lawsuit by Bogdanovich against the studio. The Springsteen songs were eventually restored for the 2004 director's cut DVD of the film.
As of March 2010, the film had a 92% "fresh" rating on RottenTomatoes.com.
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich is an American film historian, director, writer, actor, producer, and critic. He was part of the wave of "New Hollywood" directors, which included William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Michael Cimino, and Francis Ford Coppola...
, starring Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Sam Elliott
Sam Elliott
Samuel Pack "Sam" Elliott is an American actor. His rangy physique, thick horseshoe moustache, and deep, resonant voice match the iconic image of a cowboy or rancher, and he has often been cast in such roles.-Early life:Sam Elliott was born in Sacramento, California, to a physical training...
, and Eric Stoltz
Eric Stoltz
Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
. Dennis Burkley
Dennis Burkley
Dennis Henry Burkley is an American character actor from Texas who has appeared in numerous films and television series since the 1970s.-Early life:...
and Laura Dern
Laura Dern
Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...
are featured in supporting roles. Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
received the 1985 Cannes Film Festival
1985 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Miloš Forman *Claude Imbert *Edwin Zbonek *Francis Veber *Jorge Amado *Mauro Bolognini *Michel Perez *Mo Rothmann *Néstor Almendros *Sarah Miles...
award for Best Actress
Best Actress Award (Cannes Film Festival)
The Best Actress Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of films at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.-Award Winners:-External links:* * ....
.
The film is based on the life and early death of Roy L. "Rocky" Dennis
Roy L. Dennis
Roy Lee "Rocky" Dennis was an American boy afflicted with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, an extremely rare, sclerotic bone disorder. The condition usually results in neurological disorders and death during childhood. His body was donated to UCLA Medical Center after he died...
, a boy who suffered from craniodiaphyseal dysplasia
Craniodiaphyseal dysplasia
Craniodiaphyseal dysplasia is an extremely rare autosomal recessive bone disorder that causes calcium to build up in the skull, disfiguring the facial features and reducing life expectancy....
, an extremely rare disorder known commonly as lionitis due to the disfiguring cranial enlargements that it causes. Mask won the Academy Award for Best Makeup while Cher and Stoltz received Golden Globe nominations for their performances.
Plot
Rocky Dennis (Eric StoltzEric Stoltz
Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
), who suffers from a skull deformity, is accepted without question by his freewheeling biker mother's boyfriends, the extended motorcycle family, and his maternal grandparents (who share his love of baseball card
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
collecting) but treated with fear, pity, awkwardness, and teasing by those unaware of his humanity, humor, and intelligence. Rocky's mother, Florence "Rusty" Dennis (Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
) is determined to give Rocky as normal a life as possible, in spite of her own wild ways as a member of the biker gang
Outlaw motorcycle club
An outlaw motorcycle club is a type of motorcycle club that is part of a subculture with roots in the post-World War II USA, centered on cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals celebrating freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, and loyalty to the...
. She fights for Rocky's inclusion in a mainstream junior high school, and she confronts a principal who would rather classify Rocky with mental retardation
Mental retardation
Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...
and relegate him to a special education
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
school to fulfill his special needs. Rusty asks the principal if they teach "algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
, biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
at this school, because...these are Rocky's needs."
Rocky goes on to thrive at school. He wins friends by assisting a locker neighbor in remembering his combination. Using humor when faced with an awkward silence during roll call, Rocky just repeats the prior new student's line "Wow, thanks a lot." The class turns to smile and laugh with Rocky. He shows his brilliance in History class by giving a terrific rendition of the Greek myth about the Trojan Horse
Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside...
and it being the starting point of the Trojan Wars. Gradually overcoming discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
and tutoring his classmates for $3 per hour, the principal asks Rocky to accept a job as a counselor's aide at Camp Bloomfield
Camp Bloomfield
Camp Bloomfield is a campground in the Santa Monica mountains near Malibu, California, United States. Founded in 1958 by Henry Bloomfield and the Junior Blind of America, the non-profit camp runs several sessions every summer for those who are blind and visually impaired...
, a summer camp
Summer camp
Summer camp is a supervised program for children or teenagers conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers....
for the junior blind. At his graduation from junior high, Rocky takes home the academic achievement prizes in mathematics, history and science.
Rocky feels the need to leave his chronically depressed and drug addicted mother, and in a tough love way, he helps Rusty help herself break her drug habit. At camp Rocky falls in love with Diana Adams (18-year-old Laura Dern
Laura Dern
Laura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...
), a blind girl who cannot see (but feels) his deformed countenance and is entranced by Rocky's kindness and compassion. Rocky uses his intelligence to explain to Diana the sighted words like billowy, clouds, red and blue by using cotton balls as a touchable vision of billowy clouds, a boiling hot rock to explain red hot and a frozen rock to explain icy blue. Diana introduces Rocky to her parents, who have a suspicious feeling about Rocky, due to his appearance. It becomes clear that Diana is overprotected by her parents, who don't give any messages to her, nor is she allowed to answer the phone, when Rocky calls from home.
Near the end of the film, Rocky faces the pain of separation from his girlfriend who goes away to a Special School for the Blind and the collapse of his dream motorbike trip through Europe when his best friend who was to come with him moves back to Michigan for good. However, Rocky feels better after taking a bus trip by himself to visit Diana at the equestrian stables, located near Griffith Park. Diana tells Rocky that she never received the phone messages from her parents, and this visit was to be Rocky's final encounter with Diana. One evening when Rocky's "Biker Family" is visiting, Rocky is fighting a fierce headache and quietly withdraws to his room. However, Rocky dies in his sleep that evening. Finding her dead son the next morning Rusty flies into a fit of hurt and anger. Rusty then re-pins Rocky's map of Europe and poetically says, "Now you can go anywhere you want, Baby."
The movie ends with Rocky's biker family, Rusty, Gar and Dozer, visiting his grave, leaving flowers and some 1955 Brooklyn Dodger baseball cards by his headstone. A prized poem Rocky penned earlier in the movie closes the film:
These things are good: ice cream and cake, a ride on a Harley, seeing monkeys in the trees, the rain on my tongue, and the sun shining on my face. These things are a drag: dust in my hair, holes in my shoes, no money in my pocket, and the sun shining on my face.
Soundtrack issues
Bogdanovich had originally intended to use several Bruce SpringsteenBruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
songs on the film's soundtrack, but due to an impasse between Universal and Springsteen's label, Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, the songs were pulled from the film and replaced with songs by Bob Seger
Bob Seger
Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...
for the original theatrical release, prompting a $19 million lawsuit by Bogdanovich against the studio. The Springsteen songs were eventually restored for the 2004 director's cut DVD of the film.
Cast
- CherCherCher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
as Florence "Rusty" Dennis - Sam ElliottSam ElliottSamuel Pack "Sam" Elliott is an American actor. His rangy physique, thick horseshoe moustache, and deep, resonant voice match the iconic image of a cowboy or rancher, and he has often been cast in such roles.-Early life:Sam Elliott was born in Sacramento, California, to a physical training...
as Gar - Eric StoltzEric StoltzEric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
as Roy L. "Rocky" DennisRoy L. DennisRoy Lee "Rocky" Dennis was an American boy afflicted with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, an extremely rare, sclerotic bone disorder. The condition usually results in neurological disorders and death during childhood. His body was donated to UCLA Medical Center after he died... - Estelle GettyEstelle GettyEstelle Scher-Gettleman , better known by her stage name Estelle Getty, was an American actress, who appeared in film, television, and theatre...
as Evelyn Tullis (Rusty's mother) - Richard DysartRichard DysartRichard A. Dysart is an American actor, perhaps best known for his role as Leland McKenzie on the NBC legal drama L.A. Law....
as Abe Tullis (Rusty's father) - Laura DernLaura DernLaura Elizabeth Dern is an American actress, film director and producer. Dern has acted in such films as Smooth Talk , Blue Velvet , Fat Man and Little Boy , Wild at Heart , Jurassic Park and October Sky...
as Diana Adams - Micole Mercurio as Babe
- Harry Carey, Jr.Harry Carey, Jr.Harry Carey, Jr. is an American film actor. He appeared in over 90 films. He is mostly remembered for appearing in Western films — notably those by his friend John Ford — and in television programs.-Early life:...
as Red - Dennis BurkleyDennis BurkleyDennis Henry Burkley is an American character actor from Texas who has appeared in numerous films and television series since the 1970s.-Early life:...
as Dozer - Lawrence MonosonLawrence MonosonLawrence Monoson is an American film and television actor.His first film was the 1982 comedy The Last American Virgin, in which he starred as Gary. His other well known film roles are in the 1984 horror movie Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter as Ted, and the 1985 hit drama movie Mask as Ben...
as Ben - Ben Piazza as Mr. Simms
- L. Craig King as Eric
- Alexandra PowersAlexandra Powers-Early life:Powers was born in New York City. She grew up in an artsy, liberal environment on both coasts with her divorced parents. Her father teaches acting. She said in an interview that her parents, "encouraged me to find my own truth". Commenting on her faith, she stated, "I pray whenever I...
as Lisa - Kelly Jo MinterKelly Jo MinterKelly Jo Minter is an American actress who has starred in many feature films. Her first feature role was in the 1985 hit drama film Mask...
as Lorrie - Todd Allen as Canuck
- Howard Hirdler as Stickman
- Les DudekLes DudekLes Dudek is an American guitarist.-Early years:Les Dudek's father, Harold, was born in Campbell, Nebraska, and was a World War II veteran in the United States Navy. His mother, Alma, born in Brooklyn, was a former Radio City Music Hall Rockette. Les has one older sister, Sandy, who was born in...
as Bone
In Popular Culture
- Family GuyFamily GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
The scene in which Diana feels Rocky's face is parodied in the episode PetardedPetarded"Petarded" is the sixth episode of Fox's fourth season of Family Guy, which originally broadcast in the United States on June 19, 2005. It was written by Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild and directed by Seth Kearsley. The episode sees Peter taking the MacArthur Fellows Program to see if he is a...
. In this cut-away gag, Diana is vocally disconcerted by the texture of Rocky's face, and describes it as a "Pelvis". - Comedy Central's Tosh.0Tosh.0Tosh.0 is an American television series hosted by comedian Daniel Tosh, who provides sarcastic commentary on online video clips, society, celebrities, and other parts of popular culture.-History:...
used a picture of Eric Stoltz's portrayal of Rocky in a skit making fun of Shaun WhiteShaun WhiteShaun Roger White is an American professional snowboarder and skateboarder. He is a two-time Olympic gold medalist. He rides regular stance, twelve and negative three degrees on his board.-Early life:Shaun White is an Irish American...
, claiming it was his yearbook photo. TBS's Lopez TonightLopez TonightLopez Tonight was an American late-night television talk show hosted by comedian George Lopez. The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS. Lopez was the first Mexican American to host a late-night talk show on an English-language network in the United States. The...
used a similar picture in a skit making fun of American IdolAmerican Idol (season 10)The tenth season of American Idol premiered on January 19, 2011 and concluded on May 25, 2011, on Fox. The show underwent a number of changes from season nine, including the reduction of the judging panel to its original number of just three judges , a returning executive producer, a new music...
Contestant Jimmy Kennedy, claiming the movieMaskA mask is an article normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes...
was a sighting of Kennedy before his Idol audition. - A similar disfigured character,is portrayed in the hit science fiction drama X-Files during the episode entitled "The Post-Modern Prometheus" (Season 5.5). The disfigured boy is called Mutato by people in his town who have rejected him from society. Mutato watches the Mask obsessively and dreams of one day meeting Cher. Mutato's dreams of meeting Cher are fulfilled at the end of the episode.
Reception
Reviews were highly positive: Roger Ebert wrote of the film, "A wonderful movie, a story of high spirits and hope and courage." A contrasting review in the New York Times read in part "Mask is one of those movies that try so hard to get their supposedly universal message across (don't we all hide behind a mask of one sort or another?) that they are likely to put your teeth on edge more often than they bring one little, lonely teardrop to the eye."As of March 2010, the film had a 92% "fresh" rating on RottenTomatoes.com.
Box office
The film was a box office success garnering $20,478,600 in rentals with a total North American Box Office gross of $42,400,000.See also
- The Elephant Man (film)The Elephant Man (film)The Elephant Man is a 1980 American drama film based on the true story of Joseph Merrick , a severely deformed man in 19th century London...
- The Post-Modern PrometheusThe Post-Modern Prometheus"The Post-Modern Prometheus" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It was written and directed by series creator Chris Carter and aired in the United States on November 30, 1997 on the Fox network...