Did you know that CODA is an acronym for children of deaf adults?

Set in coastal Gloucester, Massachusetts, “Coda” chronicles the reaction of a close-knit deaf family – played by three deaf actors (Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Daniel Durant) – to the desire of their hearing daughter (Emilia Jones) to go away to music school.

Shy 17-year-old high school senior Ruby Rossi (Jones) has always loved to sing but when she attends choir audition – she panics. As the lone hearing person in her family of fishermen, she’s served as their interpreter in all social/business interactions.

Ruby’s alarm clock goes off at 3 a.m., so she can work on their fishing trawler and then bargain with local buyers as to how much their haul will sell for. She’s exhausted, often falling asleep in class.

Since the Rossis have always isolated themselves, Ruby is often teased and bullied. Her only friend is Gertie (Amy Forsyth), who has a crush on Ruby’s hunky older brother Miles (Durant).

Sensing Ruby’s latent talent, the eccentric choir director (Eugenio Derbez) coaches her to strive for her heart’s desire, teaming her in a duet with classmate Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo).

By incorporating American Sign Language (ASL) along with subtitles, writer/director Sian Heder opens a window into the trials and tribulations of the deaf, a segment of our culture that has been largely isolated and ignored for many years.

Actually, this is a remake of “La Famille Belier,” a 2014 French film in which hearing actors portrayed deaf characters. But when Heder met with Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin (“Children of a Lesser God”), she resolved to cast deaf actors, along with hiring two ASL experts to ensure accuracy.

During one emotionally impactful scene, Heder totally cuts the audio, allowing us to experience the poignant isolation of a completely silent world.

Realizing the need to authentically represent people with disabilities, Apple bought this feel-good family/coming-of-age drama for a record-setting $25 million at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Coda” is a charming, crowd-pleasing 8, streaming on Apple TV+.

In “Pig,” Nicolas Cage delivers a heartfelt, realistic performance as shaggy, grizzled Robin ‘Rob’ Feld, a mysterious truffle-hunter who lives alone in a cabin deep in the Oregon wilderness with his beloved pig.

His only social interaction occurs when Amir (Alex Wolff) arrives each Thursday in a canary-yellow Camaro to bring supplies and to buy Rob’s valuable mushrooms.

One night, when his rustic hut is invaded, Rob is badly beaten and his prized pig is stolen. Determined to find and rescue his treasured friend, anguished Rob teams up with reluctant Amir to take a road trip into Portland, where he’s forced to confront his culinary past.

Apparently, Amir’s parents shared the most memorable meal of their marriage at the trendy, upscale restaurant where Rob once reigned as supreme chef.

One tip leads to another, including a stop for a prized salted baguette and an interlude at an underground Fight Club for restaurant workers – until stoic Rob learns that the thieving culprit was probably Amir’s ruthless father, Darius (Adam Arkin).

Realizing that food might soften Darius’ heart, Rob tantalizes his taste buds, preparing him the most delectable dinner, a ‘repeat’ of that memorable haute-cuisine meal, hoping that, perhaps, he can eventually retrieve his fungi-foraging friend.

“We don’t get a lot of things to really care about,” Rob reveals, although he’s still secretive about his recipe for Rustic Mushroom Tart.

Working with cinematographer Patrick Scola, co-writer/first-time director Michael Sarnoski explores melancholy themes of loyalty, love, loss and loneliness, since the pig also turns out to be a metaphor for Rob’s late partner/wife Lori, who died years earlier, and his need for emotional connection.

FYI: According to the press notes, the film’s budget was so small that Sarnoski couldn’t afford to hire a trained pig, nor was there time in the 20-day shooting schedule to accommodate delays or re-shoots.

On the Granger Gauge, “Pig” is a subtle, sorrowful, savory 7 – streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play and Vudu.

I’m stunned that the Apple TV+ half-hour comedy-drama series “Physical” was just renewed for a second season.

Set in San Diego in the 1980s, it revolves around troubled Sheila Rubin (Rose Byrne), a svelte housewife/mom who has an inexplicably strange self-image, resulting in chronic bulimia, a serious eating disorder. This manifests by her buying lots of fast food, then taking it to a motel room, where she gorges and purges. It’s binge-eating, resulting in self-disgust.

Waiflike, flawless Sheila constantly voices her self-loathing thoughts in an inner-monologue, a toxic stew of self-hatred, delivered to the audience, reiterating that she’s fat and gross, while simultaneously disparaging other women, like dowdy Greta (Dierdre Friel), cruelly noting: “You can’t stop looking at the back fat spilling out of her bra strap.” And the detestable term “fat ass” is overused.

Bizarrely, Sheila’s devotion to a strenuous exercise routine leads to self-empowerment when she joins energetic Bunny (Della Saba), a hard-boiled aerobics instructor from Lebanon and Bunny’s lover/videographer Tyler (Lou Taylor Pucci), to make a videotape that turns her into a spandex-sporting fitness/lifestyle guru, complete with leg warmers.

Each sour episode begins with some version of “Let’s Get…,” as an homage to Olivia Newton-John’s 1981 hit song “Physical,” released during the aerobics craze that swept America at that time.

Created by showrunner Annie Weisman (“Desperate Housewives”), it bears a remarkable resemblance to the life/career of Jane Fonda, particularly when Sheila helps her chauvinistic, self-centered husband Danny (Rory Scovel) run for assemblyman, just as Jane Fonda used profits from her workout tapes to help her then-husband, leftist activist California politician Tom Hayden.

(Jane Fonda also suffered from bulimia; her first exercise video, “Jane Fonda’s Workout,” debuted in 1982 and became the highest-selling VHS ever).

After adroitly portraying Gloria Steinem in FX’s historical miniseries “Mrs. America,” Australian actress Rose Byrne does an admirable job with this unlikable, obsessed character. But she needs more substantial material than in this first flimsy season.

On the Granger Gauge, “Physical” is a caustic, strident 6, rarely delving below its sketchy superficiality.