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2017's "Keep the Change" features autistic actors

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Gentleman Argentum
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23 May 2023, 5:22 am

I found this film unique and refreshing, featuring an entire group of autistic people in a romantic drama. It was unpredictable, quirky and unlike any movie I have ever seen before. Unfortunately, it was also the last movie from the producer and director Rachel Israel and the last movie from either actor. It did poorly at the box office, and I am not sure why but I have the feeling that it was not a commercial success, but it remains a hidden gem waiting to delight anyone with autism or anyone that knows someone that has autism.

I recommend this to anyone here and plan to watch it again, it's that good. It is a feel-good movie and perhaps events do conspire toward a positive spin but don't they always, in a romantic drama?


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ASPartOfMe
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23 May 2023, 10:37 pm

This is a repost of my comments on the film from January. At the time I was reviewing films with Autistic characters from genres I would not normally watch.

This film has autistic actors playing Autistics meaning I should support the film out of principle.

The film is set in a New York City Jewish social skills group for 20-somethings. David and Sarah are the couple. The core plot is typical for date movies.

Show Spoiler
Overcome obstacles, fall in love, break up, make up.

Two realistic things about the characters stick out. Each character has aspects where they are clueless about aspects of social things and life in general, and completely get other aspects. David's boomer parents are ableists disapproving of him going out with a "brain damaged" girl. Sarah is the only character the mentions their diagnosis(Autism and nonverbal learning disorder).

I found David offputting
Show Spoiler
From the get-go, he is ableist dismissive of the group because he feels he is above them, "normal" a word he uses several times. He is apparently a bigot who tells a number of offensive jokes.


The director said she left the problematic aspects of the characters in because she wanted to be authentic, something I have no problem with at all.


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Gentleman Argentum
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25 May 2023, 5:42 am

ASPartOfMe wrote:
This is a repost of my comments on the film from January. At the time I was reviewing films with Autistic characters from genres I would not normally watch.

This film has autistic actors playing Autistics meaning I should support the film out of principle.

The film is set in a New York City Jewish social skills group for 20-somethings. David and Sarah are the couple. The core plot is typical for date movies.
Show Spoiler
Overcome obstacles, fall in love, break up, make up.

Two realistic things about the characters stick out. Each character has aspects where they are clueless about aspects of social things and life in general, and completely get other aspects. David's boomer parents are ableists disapproving of him going out with a "brain damaged" girl. Sarah is the only character the mentions their diagnosis(Autism and nonverbal learning disorder).

I found David offputting
Show Spoiler
From the get-go, he is ableist dismissive of the group because he feels he is above them, "normal" a word he uses several times. He is apparently a bigot who tells a number of offensive jokes.


The director said she left the problematic aspects of the characters in because she wanted to be authentic, something I have no problem with at all.


That is an excellent review. Do you think that this is the best film about autism in general or the most entertaining (if not informative)? I do but I have not seen a lot of them. Most such films tend to focus on children. I like that this was different and focused on thirty-something adults.

Sadly, I see the Wikipedia article for this movie has been deleted, but it does have an entry on IMDB. Wikipedia is tough, because you can't just write a review like yours, it has to be based on something published in a mainstream news site, which limits the input. Citations are necessary, or else the editors remove the article. At any rate, I think you could also share your review on the IMDB site which does accept original reviews.


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