Review of Mozart and the Whale (2005) by Jon L — 16 Feb 2009
Radha Mitchell is cute and because she doesn't "act" autistic like the others in this film, she shines. What I mean by that is that the performances are so over the top and poorly directed ("hey listen up cast, no one can be identical, everyone has to be unique so do whatever you can to appear or sound different than the others in the group so as not to bore the viewer, okay and we'll just take it from there"), that her time on screen is not spoiled by an attempt to play austistic.
I think in a way this film probably insults folks with autism more than helps--in a fake way more so than in a patronizing way. The main characters, Mitchell and Josh Hartnett, fall in and out and in and out of love and struggle to hold on to each other in the midst of their personal syndromes for so long that you just give up on them and don't care after a while, which is a shame because we should care.
It's like watching a mini-series or a single season of a Lifetime Channel romance you "heard" was good. By the film's final scene you're like...what? What happened to Josh Hartnett's career? Btw, I checked this one out from the local library.
This review of Mozart and the Whale (2005) was written by Jon L on 16 February 2009.
Mozart and the Whale has generally received positive reviews.
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