"Mozart and the Whale" is a weak, saccharine love story revolving around Jerry, an autistic maths genius, and Mary, a talented musician with Asperger syndrome. The film was written by Ronald Bass, writer of "Rain Man", another film supposedly about mental illness. His "Mozart and the Whale" script was once set to be directed by Steven Spielberg, who ditched it in favour of a couple of even more saccharine scripts.The film somehow manages to both trivialise mental illness and glorify it, our inordinately photogenic heroes magically imbued with savant-like super powers specifically because of their illness.The film is "about" the troubles those with "autism" have when socialising, but its plot is too sugarcoated and negates all insight. The film is too quirky, too heavy-handed, is constantly telling instead of showing, lacks subtlety, and is approaching its material from two almost contradictory positions, wanting to at once be a fairy-tale romance and a gritty, grungy drama.Amongst the cast, a much hated Josh Hartnett stands out. He's been criticised, but it's a poor director and poor writing which makes the cast look bad. The film is highly regarded by people with Aspergers and those who are married to or know people with autism (it's a comforting fantasy, despite the film implying that our couple won't last). On IMDb, the film seems to disproportionally appeal to women. In real life, the divorce/virginity rates of those with autism/Aspergers are well above national averages. I watched this film with a young woman with Aspergers. She doesn't behave like anyone in this film. When it was over I asked her what she thought of it. She described it negatively. Which films portray Aspergers correctly? According to her: "The 40 Year Old Virgin", "Snow Cake" and "Punch Drunk Love". Two of those films aren't officially about Aspergers. 5/10 – Worth one viewing.

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.

First, I have to say that my wife and I have raised an autistic boy. He is now an adult and doing well. So, we have known autistic and Aspergers individuals for years. The movie purports to be a story about the romance of an autistic woman and a young man with Aspergers. (based on real events.) Modine does a decent job of "performing" like a person with Aspergers. But, the lead actress is a major joke. She is quirky, like Diane Keaton is quirky in "Annie Hall." This is NO autistic individual. She has this dumb laugh that is annoying-- but, oh, is that acting??? It was torture to see autism trivialized by her lame attempt to portray a heart breaking condition. The script is unrealistic. The situations and the things she says are ridiculous. Autistic individuals find it very hard to express emotion. She says things that sound like a Lifetime Channel production...Someone said Spielberg was going to make this? He would have started with a major re-write AND an actress with major skills willing to do some research.... Big disappointment.

Before I knew of the dissatisfaction of some of the actors associated with this movie, I loved JDH's portrayal of Donald Morton. I've ordered the book, Mozart and the Whale, An Asperger's Love Story, co-written by the real-life man and wife who inspired the story, Jerry and Mary Newport with Johnny Dodd.When I heard of the controversy over making the story comical vs realistic, I knew I'd love to see a director's cut made. If just plain folks can express an opinion about what movie makers think we want compared to what we REALLY want, I say, "TRUST US TO RECOGNIZE AND APPRECIATE TRUTH." Even though I already own a DVD of this movie, should one appear labeled DIRECTOR'S CUT, I'd shell out for it.Maybe THAT one would rate a 20, or even a 50!