i must have seen a different film!!

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I don't know too much about autism. I am not a doctor or a psychiatrist. I see some parallels with 'One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest'. Heroes are mentally ill, each in his/her own way (one is obsessed with numbers and parrots, another calls himself a writer, third is a hairdresser that speaks what she thinks). Probably they have something in common: they are not in a prison or a psychiatric hospital, extremely lonely and they are members of a self-support group. They are outcasts, there is a mess in their brains (we can only guess what is going on there), they are too much into internal life, some sufferings and traumas. On another hand they continue to be humans and you can see the struggle between unpredictable, emotional, spontaneous behavior, fear, anger, helplessness and kindness, care, humor, order. They want simple things: understanding, friendship, love, family, job. And they can get it if they try or they are lucky. They can be accepted by society in spite of all their defects. The movie is based on the real story and it gives hope to that unfortunate category of people. Brilliant movie about humanity with very impressive performance of Josh Hartnett and Radha Mitchell.

Many people have doubts about Josh Hartnett's acting abilities. He's landed some good performances in his earliest roles (The Virgin Suicides, O), but once the teenagers adopted him as the next big celebrity crush he got swallowed in the hype that led to Pearl Harbor. This destroyed any credibility he might have as an actor, and he has spent the rest of the decade trying to prove himself as a serious actor and to get rid of the hearth throb image.He completely succeeds in this goal with Mozart and the Whale. He plays Donald, a young man with Asperger's syndrome so well, you forget it's him. The performance is rough, unpolished and honest, and while it might not be technically perfect it's evident Hartnett was very inspired and motivated. It is a very good performance, and anybody who doubts his acting abilities should watch this film before making a judgment. The only problem is: not many people saw this film. And it is a shame.Radha Mitchell plays Isabelle, a young woman with Asperger's, and the film follows the two protagonists fall in love. Mitchell is also good in her role, but is less sympathetic; that is, until you realize what it seems like annoying, shallow girl, is actually the display of her Asperger's syndrome.The film itself, however, is full of the problems. It tries to be a romantic comedy about an unusual couple, but it doesn't work that way. Rumor says something went wrong in the production, and due to some executive meddling the film failed to be a drama it was meant to be. Allegedly, this made Josh Hartnett mad and he chose not to promote the film, which is a shame, because it's probably his best performance to date.Sometimes, it feels like a genuine story about people with Asperger's meeting, falling in love and having a relationship (it is based on true people and events), but at the moments it is reduced to the common denominator. You simply can't do that with a theme like this; this one doesn't work as a romantic comedy with quirky protagonists. It also feels like good 30 minutes of it is missing; it's rushed, especially in the last third.Still, even simplified and "Hollywoodised", this film is a good watch. But it's mainly because of the main cast, particularly Hartnett. He finds his voice like never before and manages to make us believe he's an individual with Asperger's living his life, falling in love, and trying to resolve everyday problems.At the end, the film is disappointing, but the best scenes deserve to be watched over and over again. Essentially, this film is a missed potential with some great acting.

We are told this is a fictional story inspired by real people and real events. Asperger's autism is the diagnosis. Many with this affliction can get along just fine in the world, hold down jobs, even be an example to others, but certain characteristics make it hard for them to function "normally" around others and especially enter into positive love relationships.Josh Hartnett is Donald Morton and in the opening minutes we find out (1) he is perhaps on his last cab gig, having lost all the others and (2) he assembles and facilitates a group of others with social disorders and helps them cope. However, talking too much to his fares and not paying attention, he crashes his cab into a parked flower delivery truck, and just walks away from the accident. We can clearly see he has some issues.A new person shows up in the group, Radha Mitchell as Isabelle Sorenson. She works as a hair stylist and also paints. She is very pretty and articulate in an interesting way, and she and Donald start to fall for each other. They become friends then lovers, but it is filled with surprises, and nothing works out very smoothly.Donald is a savant of sorts with numbers, and Isabelle helps him get a job where he has to look over very complex computer print outs and check them for validity or inconsistency, something he is perfect for.I enjoyed the story and the acting seemed very real. The title comes from their choices of costume for an event, she as Mozart and he as a Whale.

Asperger's syndrome is an impediment, but people can live normal lives with it. If this were the premise of the movie, it would have been much more refreshing. Instead, it seems to be showing us a portrait of people with uncontrolled aspects of the disorder, so grossly exaggerated to the point that these people look like a bunch of freaks, rather than people trying to live with their disorder. That's too bad, because this movie really had an opportunity to reach a lot of people.I know Aperger's Syndrome, because I have it. Yes, there are some characteristics of the disorder that need to be recognized and toned down. Some of them can be irritating and a turn-off to people. Sometimes the tendencies are unusual intense interest in certain topics, not recognizing when to leave things alone, failing to read body language, taking things too literally, and not noticing things or subjects that people aren't interested in. Okay. Not everyone with it is a person who irritates the heck out of people without Asperger's. I wonder how many of us so-called "aspies," will find this movie to be insulting or even infuriating.None of the support group scenes in this story work. There is very little discussion about the problems and social difficulties that people with Asperger's have. No talk about behavior modification or improving the lives of the people involved. It looks more like a hangout for social rejects, rather than a support group. For crying out loud, why wouldn't anyone with Asperger's be insulted by a movie like this? The love story is never really developed, but simply rushed into. We see a physical attraction between these two characters, but no chemistry. There is no real dialog about anything except their disorder, and nothing to convince us that their attraction is any more than physical. Frankly, Josh Hartnett and Radha Mitchell give these two characters better performances than they really deserve. Ron Bass did a wonderful job of writing the screenplay "Rain Man." Did he realize that people with Asperger's are much higher functioning? It didn't seem that way in this movie. So two people with an impediment can fall in love, so what?