Redundant and unnecessary.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Almost all of us gay guys love this movie. It's sweet without treacle, and sensitive without being patronizing.I think it resonates with us mostly because Leo--blind AND gay--represents the isolation many of us felt when we began hoping for a love connection. When you're young and gay and haven't yet worked up the courage to tell anyone, the isolation can be overwhelming. You don't know who is or isn't like you, you can only speculate. And you can only speculate in an oblique, round-about way lest you inadvertently reveal too much about yourself. Keen observation seems an essential skill.In this movie, poor Leo is already isolated because of his disability. And even though he has learned to navigate the physical world with confidence, the world of emotional connections is another thing altogether.So much of the way we figure things out is visually. Surreptitious glances or prolonged eye contact become clues to help us find our way. So our hearts ache for Leo who has to figure all this out from conversations or third-hand information. He even has to ask his best friend how she rates his appearance; he has no other way to find out if he's considered attractive. Can you imagine not checking your appearance in the mirror before you leave the house? Checking and re-checking? This is why we love this movie. Coming out is hard enough for we the sighted, and little Leo manages it in a world of total darkness. In so doing he wins our respect AND our love.

The film centers around Leonardo, a blind teenager, and if that wasn't hard enough on him, he's also struggling with his sexuality and his relationship with his parents. When the new boy Gabriel befriends him, it tests his relationship with best friend Giovana and opens him up to new opportunities.I absolutely love this movie! For once we get a coming of age movie that isn't about a straight, moody white boy with too many hormones, and get something that feels so much more real. The acting is great, and so are the characters and the relationships between them. Giovana and Leo have such a great friendship, although Giovana is in the friend zone. Leo doesn't think he should be limited because of his disability, causing him to be both rebellious and sassy which I love. Gabriel probably had the least impression on me, he was nice enough but kinda bland I thought. Although obviously I still shipped him and Leo, and the film keeps their fate in the balance until basically the last ten minutes which was nerve wracking to say the least.This was one of those great films that can have you laughing and crying at the same time. I would also like to thank the film for introducing to me Belle And Sebastian who I'm now obsessed with. I also quite like the fact that they didn't overdramatise the theme of homosexuality, Leo seemed comfortable in his sexuality despite being closeted and that was really nice to see instead of the usual inner turmoil gay characters have which can get tiresome after a while, if you watch lots of things with LGBT characters in which I do. Overall, a lovely little film with nice characters that you should definitely watch to unwind and relax.

The movie was cute and well-acted. It reminds me of the After-School Specials on TV we used to have here in the States, in that it was lighthearted with some great acting and touching upon difficult subjects effectively without going overboard. I wish we would have had movies such as this when I was growing up. It would have helped a lot. Hopefully, it helps some young folks was they deal with a difficult time.I also thought of the British movie "Beautiful Thing" when I was watching this. That also dealt with teenage boys dealing with same-sex attraction as they deal with the already-tortuous teenage years. The direction was decent, perhaps just a bit uneven at times.

I was referred to this film by a link from another film, and decided to watch it for enhancing "land diversification", plus the film was Brazil's submission to the Academy Awards. As I new nothing about the protagonist's disability, the very start did fascinate me already (how all this would go on?), and, for me, all events went smoothly on towards a smart and tasteful ending.In spite of sensitive background and topic (at least for many), it was handled with piety, without sensationalism or platitude. The fact that a disabled person had gay feelings, was pleasantly collateral, not prevailing - we just obtain a nice view of teens' dreams vs. reality in São Paulo. As the performances (both younger and older) were skillful and realistic as well, it all just fell into place, and the result is a very good example of a film depicting youngsters should be - as versatile as their inner world and wishes. Highly recommended particularly for the younger people all over the world.