User Reviews

Well done, well scripted movie that tugs at the heart strings. The IMDB current synopsis (09/09) is totally off. In a cast of heavy hitters, the novice kid playing Ezra steals the show. The script is inspired by a true story, sometimes poignant, sometimes heavy handed, with well timed and well delivered levity. Casting was great with a few surprises, including Whoopi Goldberg, Rainn Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who played smaller but important roles to the story. Tony Goldwyn directed and was in the movie, which was written by his life long friend. It's the story of an autistic child, family struggle, divorced parents, understanding the past, vulnerability and a bit of redemption along the way.

I saw this as part of the AMC Unseen screening and to my shock I had never heard of this film before. Typically being the movie fan that I am I tend to hear about a lot of movies, but somehow this one slipped through the cracks. I was very skeptical when the movie had the intro from Tony Goldwyn, but did a super quick IMDb search to see who was in it and figured it would be good. Boy am I glad I decided to see this screening because it was very good. I am not parent, but watching this movie made me think of what would my dad do in this situation. The movie is very heartwarming. Bobby Canavale and the rest of the star studded cast help make this seemingly dramatic plot line into a very enjoyable dramedy. I really enjoyed this movie and hope to everyone will give this movie a chance.

I was pleasantly surprised to find actual comedians here. I actually watch Emma Willmann's stuff, and it seems like she even wrote her own material here. The movie convincingly portrays its themes, highlighting the struggles of parenting, especially in the context of divorce and a child with mental health issues. We also see the valid reasons behind the parents' disagreements. They both wanted what was best.

The film exceeded my expectations. The conflicts felt realistic, and the acting was good, particularly from William A. Fitzgerald in his first movie role. He was so good that I hope he doesn't get typecast like the dude from The Good Doctor. Overall, the cast did well. Robert De Niro's introduction was funny, and he had some great moments. He's excellent at playing father roles, as I noticed in Silver Linings Playbook.

The humor was well-balanced, with the best laughs coming from moments outside the stand-up comedy bits. I'm glad the movie didn't overdo the jokes, even though one of the main characters is a comedian. It balances out with the dramatic moments without overshadowing them.

While the movie didn't leave a lasting impact, I still think it's worth watching. It was a pleasant surprise since I expected it to be overly sentimental, but it turned out much better. One of the cool things about mystery movie screenings is discovering unexpectedly good films, even if they're not ones I was eagerly anticipating. I'm a bit conflicted about giving it 3 or 3½ stars.

I think movies about mental afflictions keep getting better and more helpful to people who suffer from them, as we move away from cartoonish stigma of the late 20th century when it comes to mental illness. Ezra is no exception in the way it handles portraying autism. And more poignantly, the way it portrays a cast of characters who all have different takes on this "disability". As someone on the spectrum it felt liberating and a fresh take and it made me cry a LOT but not like in a tragic way. IDK.

Oh! My review needs more characters to post. What else can I say? I saw the premiere at TIFF and the little boy actor was there and omg he's the cutest in real life and reminded me exactly of his character.

I don't understand the ones that hated this to me it's one of the most heartwarming, quite relatable, and wonderful tearjerker; I'm probably one of few that cried a couple times during this. I have had stomach pain most the day but I love crying to movies I sympathize with and felt sad I don't have a great dad like Bobby Cannavale's character even Robert De Niro was magnificent in this!

I'm fine with being in the minority that loved this a lot to me anything about someone on the spectrum hits the spot and this is one of the best ones I've seen. I quote movies often, I've had meltdowns, I have sensory to certain foods, and I was forced into special needs classes at a young age. I genuinely hope Ezra gets appreciated truly deserves it.

The movie is OK, there's some funny parts, I liked the scenes with Rainn Wilson. Actually I liked most of the movie, but the second half or so really fell off. I'm surprised it's taken this long for the release for the edit to still be here it's at. Some of the later scenes feel rushed, or just forced. Some of the dialogue is just not very organic, like they had some emotional moments they wanted, but they don't feel right, like the scene just didn't merit that kind of response to what was happening on screen, I don't know, it just was too much at times, too sappy. The ending and resolution to the story is pretty terrible, just too much is all I have to say. Really isn't bad, but it wasn't all that interesting of a story to begin with, and it wasn't done very well.

As a surprise movie (no idea the name or story) AMC offered this on a Monday night. I went out of curiosity. The movie gets a hold if you and your drawn in to each of the well developed characters. Movies based on a true story are always my favorite, this one did not disappoint! The father's love is incredible as he sees his autistic as just that, his son. He meets him on every level and the relationship is pure joy! The parents of Ezra are not always in agreement but their mutual love for their son is equal. The actor who plays Ezra does an outstanding job in his role which is a tough role. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Not sure why the R rating unless it was for some language.

Let me start off by saying that I've never watched a movie where so many people just got up and walked out of the theater halfway through. And honestly, I should have walked out as well. Let's start with the one positive- the acting was good. Now for the bad- the story is terrible and doesn't have a point. The entire movie just wandered everywhere. It was frustrating and depressing and seemed like an instructional video on how not to help an autistic child. It was basically a movie where you watch a father self destruct and then some how turn it around in the last couple minutes of the movie. Basically the entire movie was depressing and frustrating until the last 10 minutes where it is all rainbows and unicorns which didn't make any sense. Avoid this movie at all costs. I attended with my wife who works with autistic children and my 3 kids (ages 16-22). We all agreed that this was one of the worst movies we have ever seen.

I was fortunate to watch a screening of Ezra at the Boulder International Film Festival with both Tony Goldwyn and Tony Spiridakis in attendance. This story is a work of love between these two men who are lifelong friends, and tells a loose version of the story of Tony Spiridakis and his son Demetri.

This movie, although humorous, is not a comedy, but instead the story of how far a father's love for his child will take him. It also opens your eyes to the world of Autism, and some of the struggles and tough decions these families are faced with. Additionally you see the importance of friendship, family and small acts of kindness and the difference all three can make.

Bobby Cannavale and William Fitzgerald are outstanding. It is hard to believe this is William Fitzgerald's first acting role! A truly well written and acted story.

This feels like an autobiography even though it's not stated. It starts as a stock story of the hip underacheiving dad, Max, and his burgher Karen of an ex-wife ,Jenne, fighting over the care of their disabled kid, Ezra. In this case its autism. Naturally the ex-wife sides with officialdom believing the "experts" know what's best. This is the setup, back story, or whatever you want to call it. The editing is strange for this part. It felt like I was watching a trailer.

The movie really starts when the boy hears the ex-wife's burgher boyfriend joking about knowing a guy who will kill the Max. The kid hears this runs into the street and gets hit by a car, which brings in the bureaucrats with credentials. They want to send max to a day-institution and put him on anti-psychotics. Max punches the corrupt doctor who wants to drug Ezra. As a restult of this Max has to let them medicate Ezra and accept a long restraining order preventing him from seeing Ezra or do time to which Max capitulates to his almost immediate regret,

This is where Max takes on a road trip where Ezras symptoms are mitigated through several interactions with normal people, normal meaning not the credentialed know-it-alls who actually only know procedures. The road trip ends with the FBI, of which one of the agents which looks like Suella Braverman, arriving to arrest Max and take Ezra who knows where. This involves more mitigation of Ezra's symptoms but how the confrontation is resolved isn't shown, we only see the results. I don't know what the story teller's analogous term to the physical modeler's term "nernies" is, but but this movie had a few good ones.

I didn't recognize much of the cast. Rainn Wilson is in it and I don't even know why I know who he is. I'd seen the guy who played Max in something. Whoopie Goldberg and Robert De Niro were both in it playing the same types they always play in peripheral roles in this case.

The kid who played Ezra was great. I don't know if he is a real autist who managed to do movie work or if he is a normal kid, or as normal as a child actor can be, who's just really good at acting.

He's read the New York Times since he was 5 and can eat only with plastic silverware. That's Ezra, the film is Ezra, and Ezra is autistic. This new melodrama from Hollywood, directed by Tony Goldwyn, is a tearjerker in its best form: so likeable is dad, Max (Bobby Cannavale in his career high), so fetchingly gruff his grandpa (Robert De Niro), so loveable Ezra (William A. Fitzgerald) that you root for them from the first frame to the last.

Max doesn't want Ezra to be put in a special school, so in his usually off-kilter way, he kidnaps Ezra to take him to California away from the cold-hearted child services and to appear as a comedian on the Jimmy Kimmel show. Despite the challenge of an Amber Alert, the fugitives manage to make the odyssey with grandpa's help and that of the endearing mother (Rose Byrne), divorced from Max but loving both Ezra and him. That she accepts the authorities' decision to drug Ezra and place him in a special school stretches credibility given the questionable authorities.

Although some of these situations seem like setups for pulling at the heart, the film peppers each with a reality that proclaims how we could easily be in the same situation. Max often acts like a child, while the child acts like an adult. When Max attacks the principal, the script seems unreal.

However, the film successfully shows not only the rough side, but also the charming side of autism, much as Rainman did. In other words, humanity outweighs film formula.

Life constantly gives Max chances while he tends to blow the opportunities. While being a stand-up comedian who earns a gig on Kimmel, he has some of the worst jokes ever, such as finding his inner child who happens to have a gun.

One of the memorable segments is De Niro showing his considerable chops when he apologizes to Max for being an emotionally distant father. It's the old Travis first-rate acting even when it feels like writer Tony Spiridakis is forcing the moment and its emotion.

The movie Ezra is a stellar summer outing with excellent acting and caution about being a parent and bringing up an autistic child. The imperfections are negligible when you consider its strengths.