At First Sight is a 1999 American film starring Val Kilmer and Mira Sorvino, based on the essay To See and Not to See in neurologist Oliver Sacks' book An Anthropologist on Mars and inspired by the true life story of Shirl Jennings. Amy Benic takes a break from working as an architect at a spa in Pinecrest, a small town outside New York City. Virgil Adamson is a masseur at the spa and gives Amy a massage. Amy breaks down and cries, later falling asleep as Virgil leaves the room. When she wakes up, she runs after him to compliment the massage, only to realize that Virgil is blind. Virgil... asks her out, and the two eventually fall in love and begin a relationship. Virgil lives alone, though his over-protective sister, Jennie , who lives next door, takes care of him. During an intimate session with Amy, Virgil reveals that he went blind when he was three and that the last thing he saw was something fluffy. Amy describes the horizon to Virgil as something that you "can see but can never reach.
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| Release date: | January 15, 1999 |
| Directed by: | Irwin Winkler |
| Rated: |  |
| Runtime: | 128 Minutes |
| Producer: | Irwin Winkler, Rob Cowan |
| Editor: | Julie Monroe |
| Music by: | Mark Isham |
| Cinematography: | John Seale |
| Screenplay by: | Steve Levitt |
| Estimated budget: | $60,000,000 |
| Adapted from: | An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales |