Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia

When I was a kid my brothers and sister loved to watch the After School Specials. Often watching a show was liked to a homework assignment. You would watch the show and then report back on the lesson you learned.

My assignment was to watch "Backwards The Riddle of Dyslexia". The irony was that I was in the process of learning to deal with my own recently diagnosed Dyslexia. I remember watching the movie and being drawn to Stephanie Evans, who played Kim Stone (River's classmate) in the show. The way the show handled the topic was great...and I thought Stephanie was beautiful.

After that I would see her in ads for the "Big Button Phone" and "Cinnamon Toast Crunch" to name a few. But it was in a bar in NYC where I saw her 2 years ago and said, "Are you Kim Stone?" and she said yes. We are getting married in October 2006. But we are not serving, "stew, glue or garbage."

Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia is a powerful film with a powerful message. As an elementary school teacher I have often turned to River Phoenix as the dyslexic Brian Ellsworth to help soothe troubled parents. It is a touching and tender film that treats a serious issue with great sensitivity.

What I love best about this movie is that I sometimes find myself laughing and crying at the same time. The interaction between Stephanie Evans as Kim Stone and Brian Ellsworth is after school comedy at its best. My students roared with delight when Stephanie aptly described the school lunch menu. "Some choice! Stew, glue, or garbage!" A classic after school line that will be remembered for ages.

This is also a fabulous film for fans of the Phoenix boys. To see them at this young age is quite a treat. Their prowess as actors was evident despite their youthful appearances. It is also the first in a long line of shining appearances for actress Stephanie Evans. Most will remember her for her work as a model in weekly print ads. My personal favorite is her work selling the "Big Button Phone." To conclude I would highly recommend this film to anyone who loves high drama mixed with deep belly laughs. A must have for all educators and for fans of River and Leaf Phoenix.

River Phoenix did a perfect job at this role. I don't have dyslexia to this degree, but I have learning issues with comprehension, testing, math, etc. Anyway, I related most to this special because no one noticed or helped me with my learning issues either. In fact, I completely slipped through the cracks all the way through college. To this day, I still don't know what my exact learning issues are. I failed tests but got A's on papers, I cheated on tests to pass, or I just plain got D's and F's in classes and courses where I couldn't fake it. So teachers and professors all assumed I just didn't study or try. I'm also Asian so no one ever thought I would cheat or be bad academically. The point of my sharing this is, if you or someone you know could have learning issues, get it figured out. Struggling through school sucks!!! And if you're a teacher, don't make assumptions your student isn't trying etc.

I saw this TV-movie when I was in New York a few weeks ago. When I was looking for the Museum of Modern Art, I stumbled upon the Museum of TV and Radio. This museum is just south of MoMA on West 52nd Street and it is worth checking out. It is actually more a library than a museum and you can dig here in there huge archive. After you buy your ticket, you can select up to 4 titles on the computer and you will have 2 hours to watch your selection in their viewing rooms. They have stuff like Battlestar Galactica and Dallas but these old TV-movies as well.

Backwards: The Riddle of Dyslexia (length approx. 60 minutes) is a movie out of the ABC After School Specials series. It is the first performance as far as I know of River Phoenix. In the movie he plays together with his younger brother Joaquin (Leaf) Phoenix. The movie is, as you can guess, meant for children and has been made for educational purposes. The story is about a kid (River) who puzzles his teachers, because in a way he seems to be brilliant, but on the other hand he makes this stupid mistakes when he has to read, write and make tests. He tries to hide his learning problems by acting like a clown in classroom and is almost kicked out of school. It takes a while before his teachers and parents understand the reason for his behaviour: he is dyslexic. Not much of a movie, but this early performance of River Phoenix makes it worth seeing. The part he is playing suits him well and bears the seeds of his later performances in Stand by Me and Running on Empty.

This TV special had good intentions but it was stifled by the usual superficiality of this type of thing. Even the relaxed and relatively natural acting of River and his little bro Joaquin couldn't save it.

The film pretty much acts as if the kid's dyslexia problem developed overnight. He must've had the most clueless mom and teachers in the world if they never noticed anything seriously wrong before he reached junior high! You would think that the fact that his dad was dyslexic would've made the parents more savvy about the problem...but I guess not. The only things I learned from this TV movie were that dyslexic people have a poor sense of balance and they can't run in a straight line. Interesting.

Another major problem I encountered was that the kids and the teachers virtually never talked like their counterparts here in the "real world" would. It detracted from the message that was trying to be told.

Only recommended to those who are interested in seeing River and "Leaf" early in their careers. 3/10