Based on a play written by Stephen Sachs in the same name, Sweet Nothing In My Ear is the story of the Miller family trying to decide if they should give their son Adam Miller (Noah Valencia) a cochlear implant or not. While his hearing father Dan Miller (Jeff Daniels) wants to go forward with the surgery, his out-of-hearing mother Laura Miller (Marlee Matin) is against it.
With the movie focusing on family drama and deaf culture, it is an emotional roller-coaster with an intense plot. Thereby, some elements in the movie can go unnoticed. While some have a symbolic meaning associated with it, there are some that are just there in the background.
10 Movie Foreshadowed
When the names of the lead actors are introduced at the start of the movie, we see Dan and Laura interact with each other using their hands. It creates an impression that they both are the only ones present until we see Adam wave his hand to show his presence.
This foreshadows the way Adam's parents always thought it was just the two of them while he was usually watching them from the side as they fought and reconciled. Besides, Adam's coming between his parents at the end of the introduction could represent his pivotal role in the family.
9 The Red Motifs
In the scene where Adam gets hurt and is taken to the hospital, we see a series of red objects – a balloon, an ambulance, an injury, a man bleeding and an exit sign. This indeed can be perceived as something parallel to the way the cochlear implant surgery starts a small fight in the family which eventually leads to their legal separation.
The exit sign in end could represent the way they decide to drop the case and make their marriage work on their own. Moreover, Dan hears about the surgery for the first when these red motifs appear, thus giving a subtle hint of what is to come.
8 Real-life Similarities
There are a few similarities between Marlee Matin and her character Laura. For instance, from Marlee Matin's book I'll Scream Later, it is known that – like her character – Matin could hear when she was born.
Moreover, in the scene in which Dan and she go to watch a movie, she has a closed-captioning device with her. She also talks about the difficulty of not having it in the earlier days. Seeing her episode on Google Talks, we know that Matin herself worked hard to get closed captions on the broadcast for people like her.
7 The Unsaid Color Code
After Dan and Laura finish watching a movie, they go out for dinner with another couple they meet at the theatre. Both couples seem to be wearing the same colored clothes. While Laura and the other man is seen with red shade attires, Dan and the other lady are seen sporting tops with multicolored stripes on it.
While this may be just a mere coincidence, there happens to be another couple wearing the same color theme as they walk to their table. Shockingly, there are people wearing tops of red shade on the other tables too.
6 Paintings At The Millers' Home
Be it on the side of their staircase or their kitchen, most of their walls have paintings framed on them. It is no doubt that the family liked art and even encouraged Adam to draw and color. More importantly, one thing common about their displayed art pieces is that they were mostly trees and plants.
This could show their connection to nature and the way it impacts their decisions. For instance, Laura sees her son's deafness as something that nature did to him and says that not hearing is as natural as hearing for her and her son.
5 The Location
While the movie did not state where the Millers lived, there were some details that show that their home was located in California. When Laura jogs, there is a shop in the background with its phone number written on a glass window. The number starts with 626 which is the area code for the aforementioned state.
Besides, the Village Auto Clinic shop that she comes across immediately after that also has California written on a small board on the side. Additionally, when Dan and Adam are returning from the hospital, we see their car pass Walnut St which is a street in the location.
4 The Forgotten Pie
When Laura and her parents talk to each other inside the kitchen on the Thanksgiving dinner scene, we see Laura dress a pie using cream. Following it we see them leave the home to continue their conversation.
With Laura's parents telling her she was born with the ability to hear, the scene starts to get more serious and emotional. Dan is in Adam's room putting him to sleep after which he comes down and comforts Laura. With so much happening, the pie is totally forgotten. It is like she never prepared the dessert in the first place.
3 Adam's Hobby
It is a well-known fact that Adam enjoyed drawing and coloring. However, what many would have missed is the fact that his parents encouraged him and even showed their appreciation by framing his work at various places including the hall, the bedrooms and the refrigerator in their home.
Given that Dan was the one who designed the stage for the school play, it could mean that Adam probably picked up the hobby from his father and the talent could be regarded as a genetic thing. It could also be a reason for the multiple paintings framed in their home.
2 Dan's Character Flaw
When Dan and Laura reconcile in the last scene, Dan mentions that he always thought of himself first, rather than think of their son Adam while making a decision for him. This behavior of his is seen in the movie even before he reveals it. One example is when he and Adam are at the hospital, the doctor mentions, "It must have been quite an adjustment."
For which Dan says that he got adjusted to it, after which the doctor clarifies that he was talking about Adam. Besides, he also makes appointments for Laura and himself regarding Adam's cochlear implant surgery, before asking her about it.
1 Adam's Room
We get to see Adam's room a few times but with the focus on what is happening, the background may not be given attention. Hence, it would be perfect to point out that some of the pictures in his room are elements that appear in different parts of the movie.
Firstly, there is a picture of a bicycle and this is how Adam gets hurt. There are also football and baseball posters which are sports we see him play. There is also a painting of ships on the sea which can be associated with his Pirates Of The Caribbean themed birthday party. Moreover, he happens to have a stuffed skeleton doll sitting on his table.
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