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This article is about the film. For the substance, see Lorenzo's oil.

Lorenzo's Oil
Movie poster
Directed by	George Miller
Produced by	George Miller Doug Mitchell
Written by	George Miller Nick Enright
Starring	Nick Nolte Susan Sarandon Peter Ustinov
Cinematography	John Seale
Editing by	Marcus D'Arcy Richard Francis-Bruce
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	December 30, 1992
Running time	129 mins
Country	United States
Language	English, Italian
Budget	$30,000,000 (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Lorenzo's Oil is a 1992 drama film directed by George Miller. It is based on the true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone, two parents in a relentless search for a cure for their son Lorenzo's adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD).

Failing to find a doctor capable of treating their young son Lorenzo's rare disease, Augusto and Michaela Odone seek their own cure. They set out on a mission to find a treatment and save their child. In their quest for a treatment the Odones clash with doctors, scientists, and support groups, who are skeptical that anything could be done about ALD, much less by laypeople. But they persist, setting up camp in medical libraries, reviewing animal experiments, badgering researchers, questioning top doctors all over the world, and even organizing an international symposium about the disease. Despite dead ends of research, the horror of watching their son's health decline, and being surrounded by skeptics (including the coordinators of the support group they attend), they persist until they finally hit upon a therapy involving adding a certain kind of oil (actually olive oil with two specific long chain fatty acids removed) to their son's diet. They contact over 100 firms around the world until they find an elderly British chemist who is willing to take on the challenge of distilling the proper formula. It proves successful in normalizing the accumulation of the very long chain fatty acids in the brain that have been causing their son's steady decline, thereby halting the progression of the disease. There is still a great deal of neurological damage remaining which cannot be reversed until new treatments are found to regenerate the myelin sheath (a lipid insulator) around the nerves.

The film ends with Lorenzo at the age of 14 showing definite improvement (he can swallow for himself and answer yes or no questions by blinking) but indicating more medical research is still needed. Several healthy children are shown who, having followed a course of treatment with Lorenzo's oil, have remained symptom-free. We learn Lorenzo can communicate again via a modified sign language, and that Augusto Odone later received an honorary Ph.D. for his pioneering work in researching and discovering a significant treatment for ALD.

• Nick Nolte as Augusto Odone
• Susan Sarandon as Michaela Odone (nominated for Best Actress Oscar)
• Zack O'Malley Greenburg as Lorenzo Odone
• Peter Ustinov as Prof. Gus Nikolais
• Kathleen Wilhoite as Deirdre Murphy
• Gerry Bamman as Dr. Judalon
• Margo Martindale as Wendy Gimble
• James Rebhorn as Ellard Muscatine
• Ann Hearn as Loretta Muscatine
• Maduka Steady as Omuori
• Mary Wakio as Comorian Teacher
• Don Suddaby as himself
• Colin Ward as Jake Gimble
• Latanya Richardson as Nurse Ruth
• Jennifer Dundas as Nurse Nancy Jo
• William Cameron as Pellerman
• Laura Linney as Young Teacher

The Odones founded the Myelin Project in the hopes of finding a way to restore the myelin sheath, which is destroyed in ALD and a host of other myelin diseases such as multiple sclerosis. If this vital substance can be restored, patients like Lorenzo may regain function and eventually lead a normal life.

The oil has not yet been clinically proven to be effective against the progression of ALD, but has since been scientifically validated as something that "may help" if given to asymptomatic carriers of ALD. The late Dr Hugo Moser, an authority on ALD, had some success in using the oil to prevent the onset of ALD in patients who carry the gene but have not yet manifested symptoms. In a study of 120 such boys, 83 remained symptom-free at the finish. According to Dr. Moser, taking the oil reduced the chance of getting the disease by half[1]. In another study which concluded in 2005, 89 boys who were taking daily doses were followed over the course of seven years, and at the end, 66 of them showed no sign of the disease. These results contrast with an estimate that boys with the defective gene have a fifty percent chance of developing ALD.[2]

Augusto Odone worked at the Myelin Project Headquarters in Virginia. Lorenzo's doctor died on January 20th 2007 of pancreatic cancer. Michaela Odone died of lung cancer in June 2000. Lorenzo Odone is still alive, having lived far longer than his doctors predicted. He celebrated his 29th birthday on May 29, 2007 [3], and as of August 2005, was living in Virginia with his father. He can no longer see, speak, or move on his own, but can communicate by wiggling his fingers and blinking his eyes. He continues to be cared for by his friend Oumouri Hassane from the Comoros Islands. [4]

• Lorenzo's Oil at the Internet Movie Database
• The Myelin Project
• Lorenzo's Oil Lives Up to Its Billing Atlanta Journal Constitution – July 12, 2005
• Lorenzo Article from The Philadelphia INQUIRER. August 11, 2005

• Lorenzo's Oil as a teaching tool
• Washington Post article on the recent death of Lorenzo's doctor
• The mixed legacy of 'Lorenzo's Oil'. By Christopher Snowbeck, Post-Gazette (May 08, 2001).