This movie seemed designed to simply show the wide range of abilities and disabilities in Asperger's syndrome. Early in the movie, I had a hard time believing the female character. She seemed to have so much more self-insight than I would expect, and seemed so much more able to interact with others in a somewhat normal way, such that I wasn't convinced that she had Asperger's. Reading some of the comments from others, however, have made me change my mind. Knowing that the cast and director spent a considerable amount of time with the real people on whom the film was based and hearing from other people who are close to someone with Asperger's convinced me that her portrayal was indeed accurate for some people with AS. I think that there is such a wide range of behaviors and personalities in the syndrome that it would be impossible to make a movie that shows "what someone with AS is like". Just like any movie about a particular American woman would not be reflective of what every American woman is like. I was quite disappointed to find out from internet sources that the Asperger's support group that is run by the male character in the movie was made up. It seemed too good to be true, but I had hoped that it was. I wish that instead of making that up, some other accurate and interesting facet of his life was made into the focus of the movie. I also wished that there were more scenes showing how the Asperger's characters are functional rather that just dysfunctional and how they are able to interact with non-Asperger's characters.
Review of Mozart and the Whale
