God Said, 'Ha!'

This is a beautiful, honest and funny show. It breaks new ground in the way that artists treat the major events of life. I understand that the Greeks wore masks because they felt that the human face was incapable of expressing the tragedies and dramas that we all must face. Dylan Thomas wrote "Do not go gentle into that good night,\Old age should burn and rave at close of day; \Rage, rage against the dying of the light." Julia has dared to face tragedy and drama without a mask. She is a humorist and that is the face she shows death. You won't find anything like it anyplace else in any of the arts. She brings a new honesty to the arts and I hope others follow her lead. And she IS funny

This movie is so much better than that junk that is coming out of Hollywood these days. I loved Julia Sweeney in this movie because it touched my heart with her tragic story of the loss of her beloved brother, and the unfortunate circumstance of having her parents as her house guests.

Julia Sweeney is masterful at communicating her extraordinary ordeal when her brother was diagnosed with cancer. I found myself rivetted to the screen, despite the fact that this is not a traditional film. You feel as if you are listening to a friend recount a terrible nightmare. I was so engrossed in the story I didn't want it to end. A beautiful movie made much more powerful by the fact that it is true. Bravo, Julia Sweeney.

This is one of the most life-affirming movies I've ever seen, even though it's not really a movie. It's actually a filmed version of Julia Sweeney's heartbreaking and heartwarming one-woman show about the worst year of her life. What's wonderful about her is her point of view. She never whines about why has this happened--about why her brother is dying from cancer at 31, or why her family must all live in her tiny bungalow and rob her of her privacy and sanity, or why she's dealt another massive blow (I won't mention it). She knows her brother Mike is in stage 4 of cancer ("stage 5 is death"), and there's no room for selfishness. It's her complete selflessness and plucky humor that pulled her through this terrible time and helped her see the silver lining of getting to understand her parents better. It's to her credit that she was able to create a show from her pain that can teach every one of us a lesson or two about life without being the tiniest bit pedantic, and it's even more to her credit how incredibly funny and deeply moving it is. I laughed one huge gut-laugh after another, and, yes, I had some tears. Sometimes I cried for her because she refused to.

This is the filmed version of Julia Sweeney's intimate one-woman stage play about her family and how they coped when cancer struck two members within a year. It takes a humorous and very brave look at a very serious situation. "God said Ha!" is an intelligent, entertaining and involving film. The title is taken from a Get Well card a friend sent Sweeney.

. One warning. If "Porky's" is your idea of sophisticated humour, this is not the film for you. A modicum of intelligence and sensitivity is required.

. Executive producer Quentin Tarantino, makes a brief cameo appearance at the end.