"At First Sight" is truly an appropriate name for this latest film by Irwin Winkler. It is a warm and touching love story between a blind masseur and a fast-paced architect. The story goes on after the blind masseur recovers and sees the girl at his first sight.

    Of course, romance between a normal and a disabled is not new. However, please do not have the perception that such stories must be provocative, trying to squeeze the tears out from the audience. The scriptwriters (Irwin Winkler, Rob Cowan, Oliver Sacks) use every simple words and passion to bring the true romance and tough experience of the couple onto the screen. "At First Sight" is a very simple film and if this is not your type, you should give your "second thought and sight" to other movies maybe.

    "At First Sight" is inspired by the true story of a man who has his sight restored. Amy (Mira Sorvino), a fast-paced Manhattan architect, is having her holiday at a countryside resort. There she has a crush on a blind masseur, Virgil (Val Kilmer). Although she has to return to Manhattan, the romance continues when she keeps thinking of him and decides to visit the resort the following week. They finally fall in love with each other.

    Virgil has been blind since the age of three, and has since been under the care of his loving sister. Amy takes Virgil to New York, despite his sister's objections, in order to let him receive a radical new treatment which will restore his sight. The operation is successful, but the recovery of sight does create problems for Virgil’s life. He is frustrated by the need to abandon the system of orientation and identification he has gotten used to. All these frustration is constantly straining the relationship between Amy and Virgil. The unlucky fate falls on Virgil again as the disease revives and he will lose his sight again in a foreseeable time.

    I am not blind, but I do understand the traumas and terror of losing your sight, though personally I could never imagine regaining sight could be such a terrible and tough experience. The most fascinating component of the movie is the frustration that arises when Virgil tries to adjust to the new sensational world and at the same time tries to abandon the one he has been living in. As the doctor says in the film, "He just doesn't understand what he sees". As Val Kilmer wanders in the streets of New York, he tries hard to figure out difficult concepts such as field of depth, perspective and colors. It is a sad thing that he has to put up with all the threats and hurt that the new world may do to him.

    Amy is also very vulnerable at the same time. She has never imagined that the operation will bring to them such dilemmas, which eventually lead to a temporary breakup of the relationship. Mira Sorvino does a great job here. Is she just playing herself? who knows! A word advice for her fans: throw away "The Replacement Killers" and keep this one.

    Val Kilmer did a great job in telling us what a blind person must go through in regaining his sight, readjusting to the world around him and losing his sight a second time. I like the idea that Virgil finally becomes blind again, though even a child can tell that such a plot is an expected one. However, expected things are not necessarily bad things. At least, the plot helps me find the truest emotions in life.

    The romance between Amy and Virgil, on the other hand, is a 2 hour long naive fantasy in which love is not confined to sight, vision and appearance. The romance is enriched by the fact that Amy tries to give Virgil the gift of sight, thinking that it will bring him into her world, but it is really Virgil that teaches her how to see things differently without being able to see himself. The most impressive moment of the film comes when Virgil sees Amy (plus her naked body) at his first sight saying: "I know what beautiful mean!" (a sudden whim: what will Virgil say if Amy is played by some ugly actress?)

    "At First Sight" is flawed by its distracting subplots, which includes the jealousy of Virgil’s sister for losing her brother to Amy, the problem posed by Amy’s ex-husband and Virgil’s father who suddenly shows up with no good. I understand, for a Hollywood movie, introducing such elements can make the film special, but they can also ruin it.