The Other Sister

A family film set in San Francisco. Carla comes home after years at a special school. She is slow; she believes she can live on her own and her family does not want it. Her mother Elizabeth wants to protect her, and the protecting turns into supervising every step: where she goes, whom she sees, what school she enrols in. Carla wants to attend a vocational college. There she meets Danny, who is in a similar position and is keen on marching band music. The two become friends and then want to be together. That is where the real crisis begins for the family: living independently and forming a relationship come up at the same time. What the film is interested in is not disability but when a family will give an adult child permission. The mother is dealing with other matters in her own life, and her relationship with her elder daughter forms a separate line. Juliette Lewis plays Carla, Giovanni Ribisi plays Danny, Diane Keaton the mother and Tom Skerritt the father. Garry Marshall directed. On release the film was criticised over its representation of disability; some writers found the performances exaggerated. A suitable choice for anyone who likes family drama and the Hollywood sentiment of the 1980s and 1990s. For a viewer expecting a realistic representation, the film stands on arguable ground.