In this charmingly authentic, and working-class film about a teenage daughter of deaf parents, young Ruby (Emilia Jones) is torn between family obligation and dreams.
Not since The Perfect Storm has their been a story set in Gloucester about the hard life of fishermen. Ruby’s parents (Troy Kotsur and Marlee Matlin) are deaf…they depend on Ruby to operate the family fishing business and dodge the Coast Guard’s demands (and horns) that they cannot hear. But Ruby’s also dodging the bullies and pranksters of her local high school who find her smelling like today’s fresh catch. And from a family that’s just weird.
That is until Ruby’s music teacher (Eugenio Debez) sees a professional future in Ruby’s angelic singing voice. The irony is that Ruby’s spent her entire life ‘signing’ with her family so they can’t even hear their daughter’s singing voice. But sometimes words can be spoken through the heart, eye contact and expression of the soul. A push and pull, darling little film that elevates high up to class consciousness, winning both the Audience award and the Grand Jury prize at Sundance film festival.