Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

tieman64 "Mozart and the Whale" is a weak, saccharine love story revolving around Jerry, an autistic maths genius, and Mary, a talented musician with Asperger syndrome. The film was written by Ronald Bass, writer of "Rain Man", another film supposedly about mental illness. His "Mozart and the Whale" script was once set to be directed by Steven Spielberg, who ditched it in favour of a couple of even more saccharine scripts.The film somehow manages to both trivialise mental illness and glorify it, our inordinately photogenic heroes magically imbued with savant-like super powers specifically because of their illness.The film is "about" the troubles those with "autism" have when socialising, but its plot is too sugarcoated and negates all insight. The film is too quirky, too heavy-handed, is constantly telling instead of showing, lacks subtlety, and is approaching its material from two almost contradictory positions, wanting to at once be a fairy-tale romance and a gritty, grungy drama.Amongst the cast, a much hated Josh Hartnett stands out. He's been criticised, but it's a poor director and poor writing which makes the cast look bad. The film is highly regarded by people with Aspergers and those who are married to or know people with autism (it's a comforting fantasy, despite the film implying that our couple won't last). On IMDb, the film seems to disproportionally appeal to women. In real life, the divorce/virginity rates of those with autism/Aspergers are well above national averages. I watched this film with a young woman with Aspergers. She doesn't behave like anyone in this film. When it was over I asked her what she thought of it. She described it negatively. Which films portray Aspergers correctly? According to her: "The 40 Year Old Virgin", "Snow Cake" and "Punch Drunk Love". Two of those films aren't officially about Aspergers. 5/10 – Worth one viewing.

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.

Neil Turner This film is based upon the real life experiences of a man with Asperger's syndrome, and it is an excellent reminder of the variety of lives and personalities around which we are surrounded that are often overlooked or even shunned. Most of the characters in this film are not "easy" people, but they certainly are filled with humanity.Josh Hartnett plays one of the two main characters in the film, and he has gone far beyond his pretty boy image in creating an insightful look at a man who is intelligent yet hampered by his autistic condition. Hartnett shows us a man who is surrounded by disorder in his private life who is able to use his intelligence and empathy to uplift the lives of people who would not otherwise be enriched.I am not familiar with the other works of Radha Mitchell who plays Hartnett's love interest, but she is great in her portrayal of a woman who is the opposite, yet perfect fit, of the Hartnett character. The real Jerry and Mary Newport are certainly fascinating people, and Harnett and Mitchell do them honor.There are so many films created that never get widespread attention that are so worthwhile - far more worthwhile than many that garner millions of viewers. This film is one of them and worth a viewing.

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.