The tween girl with cerebral palsy at the heart of “Out of My Mind” would certainly dislike being called inspiring. She makes it crystal clear she hates pity, or anything resembling empty expressions of sympathy. Yet the filmmakers behind the Disney Original, based on Sharon M. Draper’s novel, cast her as the quintessential inspirational movie heroine, there to teach the able-bodied how to treat her disability with respect and empathy. While overall this might serve as a good teaching tool to impact the way disabilities are approached by the medical and educational community, the protagonist’s construction begs for an arc that’s strangely missing from this otherwise sharp feature.

Even before the opening credits, the film provides an introspective look at the frenzied chaos 12-year-old Melody Brooks (Phoebe-Rae Taylor) deals with on an average school day in 2002. We also hear her humorous charm by way of Jennifer Aniston,...