Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47461 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-10-17
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

From the Back Cover
Looking to leave their run-down life behind, little Sammy Ayers and his mother board a bus bound for Georgia hoping for a new start. But Sammy's dream is soon dashed when he awakens the next morning to find his mother has vanished. He responds by pretending not to hear or speak. Bus station manager Norman Jenkins (Tom Skerritt) and waitress Lucille (Judith Ivey) befriend Sammy and offer him a place to stay. For the next twenty years, Sammy (Matthew Modine) continues to pull the wool over the eyes of everyone in town by remaining silent. When he overhears a scheme that could hurt the people he loves, he enlists the help of an unlikely ally - the wily local trash hauler (James Earl Jones).

Customer Reviews

Charming, funny, and touching
What the Deaf Man Heard is a poignantly funny story about a boy abandoned on a bus by his mother (telling you why spoils part of the plot), who tells him not to talk to anyone. When he reaches the end of the bus line, he doesn't talk, so everyone in the town assumes that he is deaf and dumb. The bus station manager (Tom Skerrit) allows him to live at the bus station and becomes his surrogate father. There are too many funny parts to mention here, but the events leading up to the boy, now a man (Matthew Modine), revealing that he really can hear and talk are funny and touching. James Earl Jones is fantastic (as always) as the only person in town to figure out the truth, though he keeps the secret for his own purposes. You'll laugh, you'll cry. It's better than Cats. You'll want to see it again and again.

Great Story, Great Actors
I was wonderfully surprised with this movie. It ran the gambit of emotions for me: laughing, crying... Frankie Muniz and Mathew Modine were EXCELLENT in their roles. The rest of the cast was great as well. The story was interesting all along and you felt warmth and compassion for the 'deaf man' as he grew in stature.

I've recommended this to anyone who'd listen. Good job!!!!!

VHS Much Better
I was waiting for the DVD format to become available as I loved this movie and was wearing out my tape from rewinding and fast forwarding to my favorite scenes.

The VHS version contains interviews with the actors and behind the scenes making of the movie footage. I guess I expected that if footage was on the video, then it would be in the DVD. Boy was I wrong.

The DVD version was good quality, but contained no extras whatsoever. So if you are like me and hoping to replace your VHS with the DVD, you'll be disappointed. Now I have two copies of this movie depending on if I just want to see a particular scene or the behind the scenes footage. I guess the VCR is sticking around a little while longer.