At First Sight
| At First Sight | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release Poster | |
| Directed by | Irwin Winkler |
| Produced by |
Rob Cowan Irwin Winkler |
| Screenplay by | Steve Levitt |
| Based on |
"To See and Not See" by Oliver Sacks |
| Starring |
Val Kilmer Mira Sorvino Kelly McGillis Steven Weber Nathan Lane Bruce Davison |
| Music by | Mark Isham |
| Cinematography |
Ivan Muniz John Seale |
| Edited by | Julie Monroe |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release dates |
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Running time | 128 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $60 million |
| Box office | $22,365,133[1] |
At First Sight is a 1999 American romantic drama film starring Val Kilmer and Mira Sorvino, based on the essay "To See and Not See" in neurologist Oliver Sacks' book An Anthropologist on Mars and inspired by the true life story of Shirl Jennings.
Plot
Amy Benic (Mira Sorvino) takes a vacation at a spa outside New York City. Virgil Adamson (Val Kilmer) is a masseur at the spa and gives Amy a massage.
Virgil and Amy begin living in New York City. The pair begin drifting apart, as Virgil finds it hard to decipher the look on Amy's face at times. Amy finds herself constantly having to explain basic things to Virgil. While at a party, Virgil walks into a glass pane due to his poor perception.
Virgil's father sees him on television and arranges a reunion; Virgil goes to his father's workplace, but decides at the last minute that he cannot face him yet.
On one of the regular visits with Webster, they engage in a deep conversation, where Webster notes that instead of just "seeing", Virgil should instead "look"; there are a lot of things that sight alone cannot solve. Virgil confesses that he and Amy are drifting apart, but insists that Amy is the most important thing in his life.
Upon returning from a work trip to Atlanta, where she and her ex-husband shared a sensual moment, Amy decides to save the relationship. She finds Virgil in a park looking for "the horizon" in the city.
Virgil's sight begins deteriorating. After consulting with Dr. Aaron, Virgil realizes that he is losing his sight yet again. He decides to look for his father. Virgil reveals to him that he is going blind again, and asks him why he left. His father tells him that he felt he was a failure when he did not find a way to help his son regain sight. Virgil states that he should not have left because his mother and sister suffered greatly after his father walked away.
Virgil looks for Amy, who tells him about her plans to travel with him to places like Egypt and Europe.
After he has been blind again for some time, Virgil is at a park with a guide dog. Amy approaches and they reconnect. Amy apologizes to Virgil for trying to change him and for moving too fast. She asks if he wants to take a walk and "see what they see". They leave the park together.
Cast
- Mira Sorvino as Amy Benic
- Val Kilmer as Virgil Adamson
- Kelly McGillis as Jennie Adamson
- Steven Weber as Duncan Allanbrook
- Bruce Davison as Dr. Charles Aaron
- Nathan Lane as Phil Webster
- Drena De Niro as Caroline
Reception
The film currently holds a "rotten" rating of 32% on the movie review site Rotten Tomatoes based on 37 reviews.
In popular culture
The film and its plot are mentioned in the Friends episode, "The One with Rachel's Big Kiss". The character of Chandler Bing describes the film as "a tutti-frutti love story where he (Val Kilmer) played a blind guy".
References
External links
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