‘CODA’: A landmark crowd-pleaser for a year light on crowds

NEW YORK (AP) — The coming-of-age story about the only hearing member in a deaf family “CODA” is poised to be something that’s been hard to find in a year light on crowds: a bona fide, heart-bursting, tell-everyone-about-it crowd-pleaser. Starring a trio of sensational actors who are deaf — Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur and Daniel Durant — “CODA” is also unlike most heart-on-its-sleeve movies before it. It’s a crowd-pleaser that expands just who’s in “the crowd,” enlarging a movie world that seldom depicts deaf lives dynamically or authentically. It’s a landmark film in on-screen representation that also proves just how much the movies have been missing. Apple will release it in theaters and on its streaming service Friday.