The first GREAT movie of 2010...

Temple Grandin
Rating: ****1/2 (out of 5)
The movie is on HBO. People with TMNonDemand, you can find the movie there too.

Imdb:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1278469/

The first cinematic masterpiece of 2010 sadly is nowhere to be found in movie theatres, but only on HBO. It's called Temple Grandin which is not only the best biopic since Monster (yes, I'm picking this one over American Splendor), but also breaths so much life into the tired, generic, schmaltzy, cliched subgenre of the "inspirational" underdog movie which is "based on a true story" (See The Blind Side and The Pursuit of Happyness as the shit-stains of this already shit-stain subgenre). I would also pick Temple Grandin over every best picture nominee at the Oscars not named Up in the Air. People who actually liked The Blind Side (the #1 most undeserved best picture nominee in the past 10 years) need to watch Temple Grandin to see how this type of movie is done with intelligence, creativity, originality, and unforced emotional manipulation. I should also mention that the movie currently has an 8.7/10 rating at imdb. This movie has not been seen by many, but those who have seen it absolutely love it.

The movie is about the life of Temple Grandin who is the most famous autistic person and who has written books which have gone a long way to help people understand her condition. She's also one of the first people who did research on animal behavior and designed a more humane and less brutal way of killing animals in slaughter houses.

Biopics have become sort of dull as of late, and Temple Grandin shows how to do it with style and originality. For one, Temple Grandin is an extremely fascinating character who really had to overcome huge obstacles in the 60s, where no one understood autism and she was often the centre of ridicule. Claire Danes is simply phenomenal in her portrayal of Temple. The movie is shot brilliantly with such a refreshing style. Not only do we learn about her character, but the film's style actually shows exactly how her mind works and the way that she sees the world. It lets you see life through the eyes of an autistic person. It's interesting that she understood animal behavior so well, because she can put herself in the minds of animals and see the world through their eyes.

Let's not only compliment Claire Danes. If there's another award calibre performance it's Julia Ormand as Temple's mother. Her life raising an autistic daughter was by no means easy, and society back then tended to blame autism on poor parenting. Through-out the entire movie, you see a mother who is so caring, but never sure that she's doing the right thing and making the right decisions for Temple. Catherine O'Hara also does some great work in the movie.

Not only did I learn a lot about autism, but its look at animal behavior and slaughter houses is also really interesting. Most of all though, Temple's life makes for a very fascinating story. It all leads to what I think rivals The Shawshank Redemption as the all time greatest feel good ending, which works on so many levels. Not only is it great to see how far Temple got in life, but most importantly it is a really inspirational ending for all autistic people. This movie's here to confirm with them that there is nothing wrong with them. Possibilities in their lives are endless.

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