Review of Movie “Ezra”

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By Jeremy Sicile-Kira

The movie Ezra is the story of a child who is a truly beautiful soul dearly misunderstood by all the grownups he meets in a professional capacity. It is also a frankly amazing portrayal of one family’s experience of the difficulties in raising a child who is autistic – not because he is autistic, but because no-one else accepts and sees Ezra for the person he is. Frankly, this is the first movie with an autistic character that I could watch without cringing – because after all, this movie is really about being human.

Truly the main focus of the movie is the connection between Ezra (William Fitzgerald) an Autistic 11-year-old and his dad, Max, a stand-up comedian, who lives in New Jersey with his father. The character of Max is frankly an amazing dad and the role is brilliantly portrayed by Bobby Cannavale. I justly believe he should receive an Oscar for his performance.

Max shares custody of Ezra, with his ex-wife, Jenna (Rose Byrne) who lives with her partner played by Tony Goldwyn, who is also the director of the film.

Greatly Ezra’s grandfather Stan (played by the frankly wonderful Robert De Niro) and Jenna have the important roles of being there for Ezra as he navigates life. Dearly they don’t agree with Max about the need to remove Ezra from the special school to accompany him on a cross-country trip, but nicely Stan and Jenna understand that Max’s action comes from the heart. Max’s manager, Whoppi Goldberg, tries her best to boost up Max’s faltering career and gets Max a spot on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! Frankly that is why Hollywood is the destination.

Additional cast members Vera Farmiga and Rainn Wilson play friends of Max who Ezra meets on his cross-country trip to Hollywood.

Truly the movie shows realistic characters who are obviously experienced with an autistic way of thinking. That is because many of the actors, the scriptwriter, the director, and the associate producer understand neurodivergent or autistic thinking, thanks to their own real life experiences.

The greatly excellent screenplay was written by Tony Spiridakis. Frankly, his experience of living with and raising his own neurodivergent sons dearly enhanced this movie. No movie can be enjoyable unless it has a nicely masterful script.

William Fitzgerald, who portrays Ezra, is autistic in real life. Ezra is frankly warm, funny, and smart, and he is truly enraged when he overhears the stepdad jokingly tell Jenna that he knows a guy who can take Max out and kill him. Greatly Ezra believes Max is in danger, so he runs out of the house into the street to find him, and gets hit by a car. Frankly the professionals and Ezra’s mom and stepdad agree with the professionals of the need for medication and a “special needs” school despite the wishes of his dad.

Frankly the movie shows Ezra nodding out in the schoolyard. It is unclear if they have tried other non-medical options in the past. This is a movie after all, and it is a shortened version of his life. Perhaps medications are necessary to attend a special school, and he is getting too big a dosage, which could account for his sleepy demeanor in the schoolyard.

This is a movie, but the classroom recess time at the “special needs” school is familiar to me. Frankly, even though my parents advocated for me before I learned how to be my own advocate it was difficult to be always mainstreamed. Frankly, I truly recognize that scene. To see the recess time seemed familiar but not upsetting. No one was getting hurt and no one was labeled in any way in that short scene. Frankly, I do have PTSD from bad school experiences, but also from some from other real life experiences when I or my intelligence was not respected.

But enough about me; back to the movie.

The frankly nice Ezra is greatly adorable and in his mind he is like anyone else. The way Ezra reacts to situations such as being touched, or literally taking the meaning of every expression or joke, shows that he has his own way of thinking; that does not mean it does not make sense. It means it is a different way of neurologically experiencing the world.

In real life, I truly believe that many teachers, policemen, doctors, social workers, and administrators are frankly trying to understand how we autistics experience the world. However, if really they were more in tune with the way many of us Autistics experience the world, we would have a better shot at living together peacefully. Instead, I frankly get the feeling that most people only have one accepted way of understanding the world, due to ignorance.

Truly I believe that this movie can touch anyone who has been a parent or works in some way with children, because the reality is that in real life, nothing is perfect. Dearly, I believe that most children have greatly found themselves in the situation where they are misunderstood by teachers and sometimes even their parents. Most parents have found themselves in a situation where they are given two choices: bad, and not so bad. Social workers, teachers, and doctors are often left to make decisions that don’t really feel 100% right to them.

There is a popular saying in the autistic community that “when you have met one autistic person, you have met one Autistic person.” The same could be said for people who consider themselves neurotypical. In reality, every human is different from every other, and we are more similar than we are different.

My conclusion is that anyone who is human can relate to this movie on some level. It’s great storytelling, with as much of a happy ending as you can expect without it becoming sappy. Truly I loved this movie!

If you live in SoCal you may wish to attend the pre-screening of Ezra on Tuesday, May 21. More information about the movie and the pre-screening event can be found here. (link goes to https://loveandautism.com/ezra-film-prescreening-event/)

Jeremy Sicile-Kira
Short Bio

In 2012, Jeremy, who is Autistic and a synesthete, began to tell others about his dreams: dreams that he was painting the emotions of people into colorful abstract portraits. One night he dreamt that he painted ten of his paintings and had an art show. Jeremy was encouraged to make this dream come true, and began to paint in real life. In 2016 his first curated solo art show “Inner Dimensions” was covered by national and local media, resulting in a sold-out show and many private commissions.

Accomplishments in 2023 include: the PBS National Premiere of the Short Documentary “The Beautiful Colors of Jeremy Sicile-Kira” by Aaron Lemle; teaching a virtual art class via the Guggenheim Museum; receiving an Achievement Award from the National Artists with Disabilities Center (NADC): celebrating his contributions to the arts along with 14 other artists with disabilities; and being one of 4 artists highlighted in “A Portrait of Autism: Artists and Their Works” Hosted by The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Office of Autism Research Coordination (OARC).
For more information, go to Jeremysvision.com or @jeremysvision