No Limbs No Limits
Director: Steven O'Riordan
Actors: Steven O'Riordan
Release Date: Monday 30th November -0001
Genre(s): Documentary
Running time: 70 minutes
Cork native Joanne O'Riordan was born with an extremely rare syndrome known as 'Total Amelia', which essentially means she doesn't have any arms or legs. While this affliction might be seen as a constant hurdle to be overcome in life, Joanne's overwhelmingly positive outlook on life and constant cheery disposition display a young woman who has not let her situation bring her down in any way.
Directed by her brother Steven O'Riordan, No Limbs No Limits takes a look at the life of Joanne, how her syndrome has affected her and her immediate family, but more than that, it takes a look at life and how a little willpower is all that's needed to overcome something.
However, the thing that this movie can't overcome is that fact that it little more than an slightly extended cut of a documentary you might watch on Channel 4 on a Thursday evening. Not to take away from Joannes accomplishments, but there is absolutely nothing about No Limbs No Limits that you might call 'cinematic', or even particularly close to a 'narrative'. The camera essentially follows Joanne around on her day-to-day life, as she goes from meeting the geographically closest person in the world who also suffers from Total Amelia (another young lady in England), to her speech in the United Nations where she challenges the world's leaders in technology to build her an assistant robot.
It's all vaguely interesting, but not exactly a satisfying movie going experience.Despite that, No Limbs No Limits is still quite heart-warming, and brings to light a syndrome that very few people might be aware. And then there's Joanne herself, a constant beacon of light and hope and an absolute joy to be around. But as documentaries go, this is glaringly amateur-ish, and would have been far better suited to the small screen.
