After anticipating this movie for SO long I finally got my hands on a copy last night. My NT husband and I sat down to watch it.
I can honestly say I'm totally torn in half over this movie. Half of me liked it and half of me really did not.
They made the Aspie people seem like such freaks. And to be surrounded by lower functioning autistic people made it more so.
What did I like about it - my husband was able to pick out things that are me. I liked Donald's house, his reaction to Izzy cleaning it (OH MY GOD how awful would THAT be?) and her meltdown over the clanging of metal.
I liked her INTENSE focus when she listened to people talk - I have that. Where I focus on someone so hard they think I'm in love with them or something. Having trouble with boundaries in general just makes that even harder, which she also seemed to have.
The love of animals I understood perfectly and that was right but why all the birds? I realize everyone is interested in different things - I just thought more average pets would have served the same point. Several dogs, cats, hamsters, mice, etc.
What would I have liked to see in this movie?
I would like to have seen the genius in these people (which they did show) but the inability to use the genius for any real purpose like a paying job. At first they did that, with Donald and the cab, but when he got his job all of that just vanished somehow. How? He put on a suit and got all normal.
They showed him being ready 9 hours early for the date in the mall, but then being late and then talking himself out of going. In my experience that is really common. They should have shown him being 3 hours early for work but getting side tracked with something he got focused on then finding himself a hour late for work instead. Being up all night. Being hyper sensitive to sounds, overwhelmed with stimulus, etc. Only the clanging metal did it for Izzy. The meltdown I understood but not why there weren't more of them.
Why they were comfortable in big areas with tons of people. I guess some are but too much noise, too much stimulus, usually those are not comfortable places.
The love story was strained, the call/don't call game was silly to me.
My NT husband liked it alot and said it was a very good movie and the actors did exceptional good jobs.
:> earthmom