Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Palaest recommended

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

deconstructing Many people have doubts about Josh Hartnett's acting abilities. He's landed some good performances in his earliest roles (The Virgin Suicides, O), but once the teenagers adopted him as the next big celebrity crush he got swallowed in the hype that led to Pearl Harbor. This destroyed any credibility he might have as an actor, and he has spent the rest of the decade trying to prove himself as a serious actor and to get rid of the hearth throb image.He completely succeeds in this goal with Mozart and the Whale. He plays Donald, a young man with Asperger's syndrome so well, you forget it's him. The performance is rough, unpolished and honest, and while it might not be technically perfect it's evident Hartnett was very inspired and motivated. It is a very good performance, and anybody who doubts his acting abilities should watch this film before making a judgment. The only problem is: not many people saw this film. And it is a shame.Radha Mitchell plays Isabelle, a young woman with Asperger's, and the film follows the two protagonists fall in love. Mitchell is also good in her role, but is less sympathetic; that is, until you realize what it seems like annoying, shallow girl, is actually the display of her Asperger's syndrome.The film itself, however, is full of the problems. It tries to be a romantic comedy about an unusual couple, but it doesn't work that way. Rumor says something went wrong in the production, and due to some executive meddling the film failed to be a drama it was meant to be. Allegedly, this made Josh Hartnett mad and he chose not to promote the film, which is a shame, because it's probably his best performance to date.Sometimes, it feels like a genuine story about people with Asperger's meeting, falling in love and having a relationship (it is based on true people and events), but at the moments it is reduced to the common denominator. You simply can't do that with a theme like this; this one doesn't work as a romantic comedy with quirky protagonists. It also feels like good 30 minutes of it is missing; it's rushed, especially in the last third.Still, even simplified and "Hollywoodised", this film is a good watch. But it's mainly because of the main cast, particularly Hartnett. He finds his voice like never before and manages to make us believe he's an individual with Asperger's living his life, falling in love, and trying to resolve everyday problems.At the end, the film is disappointing, but the best scenes deserve to be watched over and over again. Essentially, this film is a missed potential with some great acting.

rugghedd I warily waded into this one, skeptical that two young H'wood hotties would have the acting chops to make me believe they had Asperger's. The perky alt-pop song over the clichéd opening aerial "city" shots was a bad omen---"another film targeted for date-flickers who don't want real-life to intrude on a cute, predictable love story." Ten minutes later, I'm actually laughing at the lameness of the portrayals. Josh Hartnett seems like a nice-enough bloke, but he's in way over his head here; he seems more shy than afflicted. Radha Mitchell apparently has one note to play in all her roles---nervous, twitchy, disturbed, chain-smoking, about to blow a fuse. See Woody Allen's "Melinda and Melinda" and you'll see the same character, only now she supposedly has Asperger's. Although you wouldn't know that by watching her---she talks and acts pretty normal. Another young, attractive, red-haired actress in their "group" seems like a student in a high school drama/improv exercise who's been told that her character has autism and is given a few seconds to come up with something suitably "autistic" to say. When Radha Mitchell's character gleefully exclaimed, "We're autistic!" I'd had enough. I know people with autism, including my nephew. This woefully unrealistic film is to autism what the equally laughable "Away from Her" (2007) was to Alzheimer's...

jbaer-5 When I first saw this film, I thought it was good but didn't impress me. Since that first viewing, this film gets better every time. I don't find "great" films too often that make that impression. For me, the filmed worked.But the DVD format stinks. The only "extra" is a commentary from the writer. He starts off saying, "I'm here to do the commentary for this film." He says that like he's going to get his teeth cleaned. No affect at all. I would like to have seen some extras on the two people who inspired this story, as well as comments from the actors. Nothing special about the DVD but the film itself.

artzau Not since David and Lisa have I seen a film that treats the issues of romantic involvement among impaired individuals with such insight and sensitivity. Autism is a complex phenomenon with many related syndromes, Asberger's and Turret's being some of them. Imagine that the brain is composed of neural networks which are organized into a complex array of interacting modules, all of which are "wired" together with neural pathways. Our several intelligences are formed by this organization and one of these, our "social" intelligence, is where we keep the information on how to act appropriately with each other. When these modules are cross-wired as a result of our neural development stemming from our genes or early insults to our budding nervous systems, it can result in autism. Here we see a great story that tugs at our heart strings because autistics are usually incapable of guile or deceit. So, there is a great basis for a story here and one well acted with Rahda and Josh giving great, convincing performances. By all means, see this one at least twice.