Being Heumann Review Finds Disabled Cast Lively, Villain Flat
Sian Heder's docudrama about the 1977 San Francisco Federal Building sit-in opens with real energy, a review finds. It then settles into heroes-versus-villains storytelling, and Mark Ruffalo's government official is written as almost embarrassingly one-note.
Sian Heder's docudrama "Being Heumann," a film about the 1977 fight for disabled people's rights, earns a mixed Being Heumann review: an exhilarating opening and a spirited disabled cast, undercut by a script that flattens its central conflict.
The film dramatizes the occupation of what was then the San Francisco Federal Building. Judy Heumann, played by Ruth Madeley, and more than 100 fellow activists took part.
Their goal was to force the Carter administration to implement the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. That law, a precursor to the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act, would end discrimination against disabled people at institutions receiving federal money.
A strong opening
The film starts fast. Iggy Pop's "The Passenger" plays on the soundtrack as Heumann maneuvers her wheelchair through dense city traffic, flipping off impatient motorists. The review's verdict on the scene: "Clearly, this woman is no one's passenger."
Heder wrote the screenplay with Rebekah Taussig. It is based on Heumann's 2020 memoir of the same name.
Where the story falters
That vigor proves difficult to sustain, according to the review. It describes a movie inimical to nuance, one that pits sympathetic activists against heartless officials with a heroes-versus-villains certitude.
The weakest link is the clash between Heumann and Joseph A. Califano Jr., played by Mark Ruffalo. Califano is President Carter's newly appointed secretary of health, education and welfare.
He is caught between swelling public support for the protesters and reforms that would cost more than $2 billion, which contradicted the president's inflation-lowering agenda. Ruffalo has the emotional dexterity to bring him to life, the review says. The character is still almost embarrassingly one-note, sputtering and gesticulating in indignation and whining about his liberal bona fides.
Humor and endurance
The cast of disabled actors quickly gels into what the review calls a rambunctious, resourceful team. The film makes its points with humor and immense empathy. In one gag, frustrated police cannot arrest the protesters because the jails have no wheelchair access.
The activists' resolve is astonishing, the review says. Many required attendants and medications, and the sit-in, which lasts almost a month, was unplanned.
Black Panther Party members turn up to deliver food and weed. A hastily erected "sex tent" helps pass the time between strategy discussions and internal squabbles.
