I came across this movie on a Sunday afternoon. After reading the synopsis I thought I should give it a try. I sat through the whole thing and I enjoyed it! It's about two sisters living completely opposite lives in New York City. One is an aspiring actress named Bianca (Eliza Dushku), and the other (who is younger) has autism - Asperger's syndrome to be specific - and lives at home. Her name is Jane (Louisa Krause). Bianca finds out their parents are moving to New Jersey. Bianca is not looking forward to the prospect of her sister moving in with her and her boyfriend, Rob (Amir Arison). She feels as though she'll be a hand full. Jane comes to a house warming party for Bianca and her boyfriend Rob's new apartment. That's when she meets Jack (Gabriel Ebert), a guy who sleeps around. He feels like he's getting left behind by other people in their 20s, since they have careers, are married and starting families. He had originally came to the party with his girlfriend, but she was drunk, wandered off, and he ended up talking to Jane on the roof. Bianca discovers them talking and becomes furious, telling Jack to stay away from her sister. Jane gets mad, telling Bianca that she hovers over her too much, but Bianca keeps telling her he only wants one thing and that she's just looking out for her. Later on, Jane is out on a date with another guy. He's slow, and that's really the only reason she was set up with him by Bianca and her friend, Cynthia (Anisha Nagarajan). She doesn't like him because he spends a majority of the date talking about himself. She gets highly annoyed when he tells her Cynthia told him that she (Jane) was lonely. The surrounding noises in the restaurant make her overwhelmed - noises sound a thousand times louder to people who have autism compared to people who don't - and that causes her to have a meltdown. Unbeknownst to Jane, Bianca was there, watching from a distance. When Jane runs out of the place, Bianca chases after her. That's when Jane shares with her that she knows Bianca thinks she's a burden. Bianca denies feeling that way, but earlier she was telling Cynthia how much of a hassle it'll be to have Jane live with her. Jane and Jack do end up going on a date, due to Rob giving him her number, even though he was adamant about not doing it at first.
I thought Louisa Krause did an excellent job portraying someone who has Asperger's syndrome. Her speech patterns, variety of interests, and occasional meltdowns were all spot on. There were virtually no inaccuracies. The only thing I didn't like is how Rob was talking about Jane to Jack. Even after talking to Jane, Jack didn't catch on that she was autistic. He expresses to Rob that he wants to start going out with her, and that's when Rob tries to explain that she has autism without actually saying it. He said she's 25, lives with her parents, and all she does is watch movies. He said that in such a way as if to mean that's why she's different. What's so unusual about that? It's apparent she loves old movies, because during the beginning portion of the film, when Bianca walked into Jane's room, she was watching The Last Time I Saw Paris (I didn't know Roger Moore and Elizabeth Taylor were in a movie together, so that was interesting). Based on Rob's description of Jane, Jack wasn't the only one who was uninformed about people with Asperger's. People who lack knowledge about the disorder often see people with Asperger's as being strange. But in actuality, there's nothing strange about them. I've conversed with people who had autism, and they were very fascinating. Most of the people I encountered who didn't have autism were so boring to talk to. All they did was gossip, or they shared the mundane happenings of their daily life. I could sort of relate to Jane. I'm a young adult who lives with my parents. I've had lots of people imply, to my face, that I don't get out enough. I'm not a fan of parties and nightclubs - I'm introverted. I also have interests that are not typical of people my age. I can watch old movies all day, and I love music from the 60s and 70s (I have a few autistic tendencies. I figured that out about myself way before watching this movie). Just because I spend my Friday and Saturday nights at home doesn't mean I'm unhappy. I do what makes me comfortable. I never understood why people feel the need to be so judgemental.
Even though Bianca overreacted when she first saw Jane and Jack talking to each other, it is understandable why she was overprotective. People who have an autistic family member worry that someone who is not autistic will take advantage of them, especially when they enter the dating scene. Jane and Jack's relationship turned out to be wonderful. It was nice to see how he changed. He went from being a guy who only cared about sex to becoming a gentleman. I thought the ending was formulaic and simplistic. In real life, a man who's a womanizer doesn't become a sweetheart just because he dates a woman who has an intellectual disability. If this wasn't a movie, I don't think Jack would've been the ideal boyfriend for Jane. He probably would've hurt her feelings, or pressured her to have sex. However, it was still a lovely film. Bianca finally realized she needed to stop treating Jane like a child. I'm glad I watched this on TV. There were a lot of curse words, and I'm happy they were muted within the dialogue. Listening to characters drop the f-bomb every couple of minutes puts me off from watching a movie. It was much easier to watch without hearing the foul language.
