Product Details

• Actors: Joseph Mazzello, Brad Renfro, Aeryk Egan, Delphine French, Mona Powell
• Directors: Peter Horton
• Writers: Robert Kuhn
• Producers: Bill Borden, Eric Eisner, Mark Burg, Todd R. Baker
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: April 30, 1996
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (106 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303651879
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,973 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This heartfelt drama tells us it's an AIDS movie that's not about AIDS. When this film keeps its promise (roughly the first three-quarters), it's a winner, a film about a truly notable friendship between two 11-year-old boys. Diagnosed with AIDS from a blood transfusion, Dexter (Joseph Mazzello) has gratefully bypassed most of Kübler-Ross's stages of death. He is, however, an outcast among his peers until Erik (Brad Renfro) comes along and finds him quite normal. Their bond deepens as they look for a cure for the disease using odd forms of scientific theory. Part educational text, part Mark Twain adventure, part tearjerker, the movie relies on something not found in movies these days: a love affair of male friendship. At its center are two of the best pre-actors around. Mazzello (Jurassic Park) has a professional presence on screen. The wild card is Renfro in only his second role (the other was The Client). As the outgoing, Huck Finn-ish boy, he has impressive physical abilities that communicate a naturalness on screen. The film's sappy hospital scenes bog down the picture tremendously, but they do lead to two special scenes that end the movie. The Cure is an assured directorial debut by TV actor Peter Horton (thirtysomething). An interesting note: single mothers raise both kids, a fact never lingered on--refreshingly so--in the script written by Robert Kuhn. --Doug Thomas

From The New Yorker

A very effective tearjerker about the friendship between two boys (Brad Renfro and Joseph Mazzello), one of whom is dying of AIDS; it dwells heavily on the boys' search for a cure, but the hand-wringing is dispensed with early. While the movie is no "Shoeshine," it is beautifully acted, and the director, Peter Horton, comes across with simple and assured camerawork, keeping the tearful closeups to a minimum. The schlocky music, by Dave Grusin, is a big mistake-it sentimentalizes a story that would stand up strong without it. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring tale of profound friendship., October 19, 2004

By 

R. Christenson "SpaceComics.com" (Pine, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Cure (DVD)

Joseph Mazzello (Jurassic Park, Simon Birch, The River Wild, Radio Flyer, Three Wishes, Star Kid) stars as 11-year-old Dexter in this wonderful but sad story of a boy who caught AIDS from a blood transfusion. Dexter is shunned by all the children in school and the neighborhood until troubled neighbor Erik, played by Brad Renfro (The Client, Sleepers, Tom and Huck, Apt Pupil, Bully) befriends him - initially as an act of rebellion! But Erik soon becomes devoted to Dexter, leading him down the Mississippi river in search of a cure. What I found most interesting and original about this movie is the notion that Erik was a rebellious kid (in the opening scene he's vandalizing his desk in school), who initially befriends Dexter because that's exactly what everyone - peers and parents - oppose. But the result is one of the most touching friendships in the movies.

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blows All Other Movies In The Dust, May 2, 2002

By 

Screendoor (The Prairie) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cure [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Joseph Mazzello is 11-year-old Dexter. Dexter received the HIV virus when he was very young from a blood transfusion. He now has AIDS. And his only friend is his single mother, Linda, played by Annabella Sciorra.

Brad Renfro is Erik. Erik is a kid that is sort of a loner at school. All the other kids at the school call him bad names relating to homosexuals. They also walk on the other side of the hall when he's walking by because Dexter moved in behind his house. He has a drunk for a mother and his father lives in New Orleans with his 23-year-old girlfriend.

When summer vacation starts Dexter and Erik start up a friendship and they soon become best friends. They do fun things together and Dexter starts living his childhood as it should be lived. In their playing around they come up with unique ways for how to cure Dexter, but of course none of them work. One day they were at the supermarket and find a tabloid that says the cure for AIDS was found by a backwoods doctor in New Orleans. They tell Dexter's mom about this but she doesn't believe it.

Erik's mom Gail finds out that they two kids are playing with each other. She is misinformed about AIDS so she tells Erik that he is not to play with Dexter and that she is sending him to summer camp. So Erik got to thinking that he and Dexter could go and find the cure in New Orleans so he could be aloud to play with Dexter. They run away from their home of Stillwater, Minnesota and sail down the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers to find the cure.

This is a wonderful tale of true friendship. Erik and Dexter have a friendship more powerful than most people will ever experience in their lifetime. "The Cure" touches you deep inside and just makes you want to do something for the real children who are suffering like Dexter.

Joseph Mazzello is great in this movie. This actor is one in a million. Never once in this movie do you think of him as a child actor, you think of him as a real person. I have to say the same for Brad Renfro. Mazzello is the greatest actor of all time and Renfro is up there also.

I recommend that everyone see this movie at least once. It will appeal to everybody. It is a movie for the family despite it's PG-13 rating; that's just for some bad words. I would give this movie 100 stars if I could, but I can only give it five, and it sure earns them.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The film is good, but..., December 6, 2004

By 

Jarle L. Nyvoll (RANDABERG Norway) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cure (DVD)

This was a film I discovered by accident - and fell in love with. Strong performances all around, and a captivating, yet not too sentimental story line.
But... Why has Universal not bothered to remaster this gem for DVD release? The sound is MONO, and the aspect ratio of the film is 1,33:1. (Full frame, not widescreen.)I know this was not a great commercial success, but I think Universal should have taken more care with this release.