I think this movie is a very heart warming one. It tell of the story of Rocky Dennis who suffered from a condition called that makes calcium build on his skull. At first I will admit, it was hard to look at Rocky but as you watch the movie, you see the real person. You see that he had a heart of gold. I also think this movie is one of Cher's best by far. I seen an interview she had done, where she said she went to visit the real Rusty Dennis. The director wanted to make Rusty "family friendly" but Cher said no. She wanted to portray her as close as possible to the real woman. The director was about to not give her the part because of it. I admire the fact that she wanted to portray someone as close as she possibly could. This movie also brings tears to my eyes, every time I watch it and I have seen it several times.

This movie is the true story of a teen who is deformed named Rocky Dennis. I do not know how true it is, they usually change a lot of things around in Hollywood, but I am willing to guess a good portion of it is true with a few indulgences here and there to add some extra drama and stuff. I am guessing his friendship with the blind girl was made out to be more than it was. The make-up job was really good here as I saw a picture of the real Rocky Dennis and it is fairly close. The story follows Rocky through some events as you see how his daily life is up to a point. Nothing more to it than that really, you see how he is a rather smart guy with a likable personality. His mother, played excellently by Cher is a woman who loves her son, but it is thanks to her drug use that he was possibly born this way. Rocky tries to get his mom off the drugs using not so subtle means. Sam Elliot plays Gar, I believe his name was, a guy who is sort of a friend of Rocky's mom and a guy that Rocky seemed to look up to. The movie has some humor here and there and some drama too and quite a few scenes to make one feel a bit sad. A rather good film with generally good acting throughout the duration.

This film is a true story about a young California man born with a rare brain tumor that gives his a head a large and disfigured shape, played by Eric Stolz. He is raised by his biker mother, Cher and her friends that come and go. His mother desperately wants him to live a life like a normal teenager, insisting that he gets enrolled in public schools and such. We are taken through the young man's journey through life and the difficulties he faces with friends and girls, as well as his increasing frustrations with these difficulties. Cher gives one of her greatest performances here, as does Laura Dern as the blind girl that Stolz meets at a summer camp for the disabled. Truly a memorable and gripping film that will stay with you for many years.

An excellent portrayal of the last year or so in the life of Rocky Dennis (played by Eric Stoltz), a teenager who lives with a hideously deformed face as the result of a rare disease. This is a movie that you cannot help but be pulled in by. It's funny in places, emotional virtually all the way through and bittersweet at the end. Rocky clearly had challenges to overcome - and not all of them revolved around his face. His mom Rusty (Cher) has a drug problem and has a poor relationship with her own parents, and he spends his time hanging out mostly with a rather tough looking group of bikers, at least some of whom are also into drugs. And yet, this is his world, and - for all their problems - these people are his family; they're the ones who accept him and love him unconditionally and look out for him. Seeing this relationship with the bikers (and especially the voiceless Dozer, played by Dennis Burkley) is almost as fascinating as anything else in the movie. Rocky has been told he doesn't have much time to live, but he does have dreams: a bike trip to Europe with a friend, and he wants to fall in love with someone. It's almost as if the dreams keep him going. He goes to a summer camp for blind children as a counsellor, and falls in love with Diana (Laura Dern) - a beautiful but blind girl who's able to see the beauty inside him. But then he goes home, and it all falls apart. His friend moves to Michigan, and the dream of Europe is gone; his new girlfriend's parents don't want her to have anything to do with him, and his dream of love is gone. With his dreams shattered, there's not much left for Rocky to look forward to. The shattering of his dreams is perfectly depicted by the scene in which he pulls the tacks off the map of Europe where he's been marking all the places he wanted to visit. You know it's happening, but the scene when his mom goes into his room and finds him dead in bed still can't help but put a few tears in your eyes.Director Peter Bogdanovich took a chance on casting Cher. She really didn't have much acting experience in 1985, but she pulled the part off very well (although given the circumstances in which Rusty lived, I thought Cher looked a little too good for the role.) Stoltz was convincing as Rocky, and Laura Dern was completely believable as the blind girl who falls head over heels in love with Rocky. Overall, though, I thought perhaps the strongest performance was Sam Elliott's as Rusty's sometime lover Gar. He looked the part, sounded the part and acted the part brilliantly.Apparently the movie takes a few liberties with Rocky's story. From what I understand, Diana didn't actually exist (although some think she may have been a composite of several girls in Rocky's life) and, while touching, the closing scene, where Rusty, Gar and Dozer visit the cemetery and Dozer puts flowers on the grave, is also a creation - Rocky's body was donated for medical research. There is no grave. Still, you can't help but be deeply moved by this absolutely engrossing story. It's well worth 9/10.