Mozart and the Whale at blockbuster

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Mozart and the Whale at blockbuster
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Wed, 12-20-2006 - 8:57pm

Rented it and watched it yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised as was my DH. I have to admit we were CRACKING up at parts that hit way close to home. I won't give any away though.

The only down part (according to DH and I have to agree) is the acting of the main male character. It was almost too stereotypical and it was the same things over and over again. Too much focus on the number obsession and no eye contact.

However, in his defense, the character was based on Jerry Newport who DH has met in person and seen in conferences on many occasions. He just didn't think the guy did Jerry very well as Jerry has an AWESOME sense of humor at himself. (And his eye contact isn't quite THAT bad, lol)

The female character was great and I hear that it is just like the actual Mary. And I just really adored many of the supporting actors/actresses and thought they did a great job. The story is also really well done and hits the whole adult world of autism pretty well I think.

Renee

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 12-20-2006 - 11:07pm

I've never heard of it.


Should I get Glen to rent it for me?


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Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 12-21-2006 - 9:32am

Totally!

A few years ago there was an interview with Jerry and Mary Newport on 60 minutes. This movie was derived from that. Jerry Newport is one of those very famous aspies up there with Temple Grandin. In fact, I would have to say I like his books better.

The movie is basically a love story of 2 people with AS and they did a darn decent job of it. It was supposed to be out a while ago in major theaters but the production company they had dropped it, then one thing led to another. Eventually it was released like 2 years late and only in limited theaters. This was a while ago. Finally we just found out it was out as a new release at blockbuster this week.

We usually don't get 2 day rentals but we have been waiting to see this movie since we heard about it 4 years ago. I was really expecting it to be a let down since most autism/asperger movies are and I was waiting so long. But I was really pleasantly surprised.

Renee

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Registered: 12-22-2003
Sun, 12-31-2006 - 7:10pm

DH and I watched this last night, and as is typical, I agree with Renee. :-) I, too, was pleasantly surprised. Although I was a tad more irritated by the female lead than the male lead. She came across as being incredibly high functioning, almost to the point where it seemed that her spectrum behaviors were only included so they could hit you over the head and remind you that she was supposed to be on the spectrum. This could very well be the way the original person's diagnosis manifested itself, but it just seemed a little off to me.

Afterwards, I tried to talk to DH about the movie...but it was really hard for him, as he said he connected with the main character too much. I found that interesting because, while I know DH is "on the spectrum" I just didn't see the connection between him and the main character.

Amy

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Registered: 03-26-2003
Sun, 12-31-2006 - 8:24pm

I was initially put off by the female lead as well but DH had said in an interview with Jerry that I guess they hit that one on the head.

Then I got to thinking. It was actually good that they had an autistic character that didn't "look" autistic but still struggled (metal noise factor, etc). Often that is a complaint that the TV characters look almost too stereotypic and as such those who can blend in aren't accepted as being autistic.

This reminded me a bit of Cait. She is quirky animal fanatic with no social graces but she has learned to contain many of her "traits". Cait looks more autistic than that character but each year she learns to blend more an more and definitely blends in better than most of the Aspie boys in her class, but she struggles more with the cognitive struggles and social struggles than those boys do.

Renee

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Registered: 11-13-2003
Wed, 01-03-2007 - 3:35pm

Renee,

We watched this the other night and really enjoyed it! Thanks for telling everyone here about it. I actually thought Josh Harnett did some great acting. Anyone else think he is HOT! He reminded me of my dh except he was much more severe. The facial grimices, talking to himself and social difficulties I see my dh doing sometimes. I loved the romance between the two and how you just root for the characters to be together. I also thought the others in the cast did very well.

Molly

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Fri, 01-05-2007 - 10:06am
Definately a must-see movie. I watched it last night and the dog looked at me strangely when I started crying and snuffling.
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Registered: 03-22-2006
Fri, 01-05-2007 - 4:04pm
I can't wait to watch this movie! From the descriptions here the main female lead sounds like me to a degree. I'm not obviously autistic but I have marked sensitivities and lack social graces, not matter how I try (workshops, books, really make a conscious effort) I still miss the cues and often have to ask my husband what was meant, if someone's joking, etc. Thanks for pointing this movie out Renee, I knew nothing about it until today and will rent it asap. :)


Edited 1/5/2007 4:06 pm ET by ocarina101
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Sat, 01-06-2007 - 11:40am

Got it on netflix last week and dh and I finally got around to seeing it last night, (hard when once I put the boys to bed all I want to do is pass out, lol).

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Sat, 01-06-2007 - 2:05pm

One thing they didn't really show well with the female character were her savant traits. Unless you knew of the person it was based on you would miss alot of it.

For instance writing music while painting. If you look closely at the one small clip where they showed that she was writing the music backward while painting at the same time. I wouldn't have caught this except DH pointed out that Mary Newport was able to do that. She would "see" the whole song at once so it didn't matter to her if she wrote it front ways or back.

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Sat, 01-06-2007 - 2:21pm

I really agree with you Dee, I liked the supporting characters a lot, and the spectrum range they showed. I am now thinking about co-morbid mood disorders more and more for Eric and had the same thought as you about the Isabelle character. Eric is very like her in his mood swings and tendancey towards sarcasm (as much as a 4 yo can be sarcastic!). Though he is more stimmy than her character.

I had so many reactions to this movie, which I really liked and wished it had a larger audience or a real theater run. I saw a lot of references to old romantic comedy movies, like "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Isabelle reminded me a little of the Audrey Hepburn character, Holly GoLightly. "Barefoot in the Park" also came to mind. This seemed like a Seattle Grunge, Aspie version of those movies, and I liked that. I thought it very tender to reference those classic movies in such an off-beat way.

It also kind of made me a little sad. It made my DH very sad. He was much more moved by it, in a downer kind of way. It sort of showed me by best hopes and worst fears for Eric. Hopeful, because I want to think he will fall in love, even if it is an unconventional way--which it probably will be and that's ok. Fearful, because I want more for him than a "fringe" kind of life. If that makes sense.

Like Renee said, I also found many things hysterically funny, true to life. DH didn't though. He just found it all sad. Guess DH and I need to talk about this more.

Also, did you know Gary Cole, "the boss" in the movie, has a daughter with autism?

Anyway, thanks for alerting us all Renee that this was at blockbuster. I don't get out much and might not have known otherwise!

Katherine

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