Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

The Waterdance

Play trailer Poster for The Waterdance R 1992 1h 46m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
94% Tomatometer 17 Reviews 63% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Injured in a climbing accident, writer Joel Garcia (Eric Stoltz) wakes up in a hospital having lost the use of his legs. Soon after, he's placed in a recovery ward where he begins the arduous process of rehabilitation and meets others with injuries like his own. Raymond (Wesley Snipes) is a ladies' man whose girl has nevertheless split, and Bloss (William Forsythe) is a rather prejudiced biker. Together, this unlikely trio helps one another to overcome the greatest challenge of their lives.

Critics Reviews

View More
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
3.5/4
Films are so often about big, dumb conflicts and predictable conclusions. The Waterdance is about the everyday process of continuing one's life under a tragically altered set of circumstances. Go to Full Review
Terry Orme Salt Lake Tribune 08/06/2024
3.5/4
If this sounds self-righteous and loaded with pity, nothing could be further from the truth. The Waterdance speaks with wit and dark humor. Go to Full Review
Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com 08/30/2020
4.0/4.0
The Waterdance is one of the most realistic films ever released dealing with the subject of adjusting to life with a spinal cord injury. Go to Full Review
Malcolm Johnson Hartford Courant 04/13/2018
All of this is played out with poignancy, realism, humor and touches of poetry by a devoted and varied cast. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 10/31/2006
A-
What's most striking about the film is its meticulous attention to detai, authenticity, and tight focus: This is the story of 3 ordinary guys, not war heroes, who happen to be in wheel chairs; Jimenez based the script on his personal experience. Go to Full Review
Betsy Bozdech DVDJournal.com 09/04/2006
3/4
A well-acted, deliberately paced drama about the sometimes stark realities of paralysis. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Ęxçëşș M @ExcessMale 04/28/2023 Caught this via DVD years ago expecting a stirring little character study that would stick with me for a long time. I greatly overestimated the prowess of this semi-Lifetime Channel film. See more Dave S 06/07/2022 While The Waterdance never dares to do anything differently, it is a solid movie that centers around a young man (Eric Stoltz) and his struggles, both emotionally and physically, with rehab after being horribly injured in a hiking accident. Supported by his girlfriend (Helen Hunt) and a pair of fellow patients (Wesley Snipes, William Forsythe), he slowly comes to terms with his paralysis as he pieces his life back together. Despite a sometimes annoying and distracting music score, the film succeeds on the strength of the collective performances, its deliberate pacing and the smart script by Neal Jimenez, a paraplegic himself. See more 05/13/2022 Neal Jimenez and Micheal Steinberg direct William Forsythe, Wesley Snipes, Helen Hunt, Grace Zabriskie Injured in a climbing accident, writer Joel Garcia wakes up in a hospital having lost the use of his legs Soon after, he's placed in a recovery ward where he begins the arduous process of rehabilitation and meets others with injuries like his own Raymond is a ladies' man whose girl has nevertheless split, and Bloss is a rather prejudiced biker Together, this unlikely trio helps one another to overcome the greatest challenge of their lives A drama all about recovering not just physically but emotionally too Raymond has strained relations with his wife and daughter considering he was abusive before his accident, Bloss has a candid attitude, and Joel is worried Anna is going to leave him for another man that can actually walk All of them have issues even with their handicaps The actors are good and there's a proper amount of emotion We see their everyday process of continuing one's life under a tragically altered set of circumstances This ends up being too long though But it's the most realistic portrayal dealing a spinal cord injury plus Jimenez bases this story on personal experience See more 07/15/2018 Do you do you do you do you want to dance? See more Frances H 07/01/2014 Good drama about paraplegics adjusting to their state in a rehab center with a good cast headed up by Eric Stolz and Helen Hunt. See more 02/06/2014 I was paralyzed in 1991. I saw this movie and it was spot on. I really enjoyed the realism. See more Read all reviews
The Waterdance

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
Roadside Prophets 86% 63% Roadside Prophets Watchlist Equinox 33% 42% Equinox Watchlist Menace II Society 84% 93% Menace II Society Watchlist TRAILER for Menace II Society Smoke 89% 89% Smoke Watchlist City of Hope 95% 83% City of Hope Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Injured in a climbing accident, writer Joel Garcia (Eric Stoltz) wakes up in a hospital having lost the use of his legs. Soon after, he's placed in a recovery ward where he begins the arduous process of rehabilitation and meets others with injuries like his own. Raymond (Wesley Snipes) is a ladies' man whose girl has nevertheless split, and Bloss (William Forsythe) is a rather prejudiced biker. Together, this unlikely trio helps one another to overcome the greatest challenge of their lives.
Director
Neal Jimenez, Michael Steinberg
Producer
Gale Anne Hurd
Production Co
No Frills Film Production
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 22, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.7M
Runtime
1h 46m
Sound Mix
Surround, Stereo