Psychiatrist Richard Dreyfus is called in when two of his neighbors are murdered and the only witness is their autistic son.
It's a murder mystery and an exploration of autism highlighted by a good cast, including Linda Hamilton, J. T. Walsh, John Lithgow, and Liv Tyler in her screen debut. As a murder mystery, it's a good one. As a study in autism, not so much. It seems to think that autism is a curable condition, one that is trauma-based, and that the occasional extraordinary individual on the autism-Asperger spectrum is the norm. Hollywood has a tendency to exalt what used to be called the idiot savant, from RAIN MAN to THE ACCOUNTANT. Bruce Beresford's movie from a script by Akiva Goldsman doesn't go quite that far, but with an autistic family member, I find its handling as being more for entertainment that serious comment, and therefore annoying. Your Mileage May Vary.
It's a murder mystery and an exploration of autism highlighted by a good cast, including Linda Hamilton, J. T. Walsh, John Lithgow, and Liv Tyler in her screen debut. As a murder mystery, it's a good one. As a study in autism, not so much. It seems to think that autism is a curable condition, one that is trauma-based, and that the occasional extraordinary individual on the autism-Asperger spectrum is the norm. Hollywood has a tendency to exalt what used to be called the idiot savant, from RAIN MAN to THE ACCOUNTANT. Bruce Beresford's movie from a script by Akiva Goldsman doesn't go quite that far, but with an autistic family member, I find its handling as being more for entertainment that serious comment, and therefore annoying. Your Mileage May Vary.