Whale of a review from Variety.com

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From Variety.com......

This review is unusual since the reviewer is known for trashing

most movies.

Jerry

Material that easily could have been turned into cringe-inducing

TV movie sap has been handled with reasonable intelligence and

authenticity in " Mozart & the Whale. " This low-budget love story

between two emotionally stunted young people with Asperger's Syndrome

doesn't have the production sheen or star power of screenwriter Ron

BassRon Bass' " Rain Man, " but it's less cloying and contrived.

Lacking a distribdistrib, pic faces an uphill struggle commercially

that could be aided by a promopromo push from star Josh HartnettJosh

Hartnett, who should be proud to draw attention to his first screen

performance that shows he has some acting chops.

Shot two years ago in Spokane, Wash., this marks the first American

feature by Norwegian theater vet Petter Naess, whose 2001 fest

hit " Elling " " Elling " was -nominated. Helmer has an obvious knack

with actors, as he trains dramatic focus on the problems of the two

wildly different leading characters while sympathetically

orchestrating a convincing ensemble of variously afflicted people who

are never allowed to lapse into aimless affectation.

" Fictional story based on true events " was inspired by Jerry Newport,

who reportedly wasn't aware he had a form of autism until he

saw " Rain Man " and subsequently organized support groups around the

country. Hartnett's character is a taxi driver with a

phenomenal talent for numbers who has assembled a support group where

members can be themselves without outside pressure.

From the first, there is a refreshing absence of special pleading or

under-the-microscope examination in Naess' approach; the characters

are what they are -- cantankerous, repressed, deluded and so on.

Their common trait, other than loneliness, is extreme mental

preoccupation that contributes to difficulty dealing with the outside

world or other individuals; they often don't look people in the eye

(especially true of ) or respond to questions, are consumed

with statistics or esoteric knowledge, and are into their own heads

to an extent that makes them natural loners unlikely to make

meaningful connections with others.

Which sets up the central challenge, when gorgeous fireball Isabelle

(Radha Radha ) turns up to check out the group.

Direct where is evasive and kinetic while he is laid back,

Isabelle would seem to have a brain firing on triple the normal

number of synapses; she says what's on her mind, is impulsively

creative and seems, at first, like your everyday unpredictable, semi-

flakey hyperneurotic.

Under the circumstances, it's up to Isabelle to make the first move,

which she does at a Halloween party at which she's adorably dolled up

like Wolfgang Amadeus and 's rather less flatteringly

accoutered as a whale. When he nervously brings her to the impossibly

cluttered apartment he shares with an array of uncaged birds,

Isabelle announces in her typically forthright manner, " This is about

sex, " an approach a tad too direct for poor .

Core of the movie, which flirts with cutesiness on occasion, deals

with how the two do and don't manage to sort out their relationship.

Although flips out when Isabelle takes it upon herself to

clean up his apartment, Isabelle's superior ability to handle real-

life challenges enables her to find a house they can share as well as

to land a good job in statistics at the local university.

However, the tiniest slight unhinges Isabelle, creating legitimate

doubt as to whether she, more than , can ever handle a

permanent relationship. WrapWrap-up arrives abruptly and feels

somewhat unearned, given that so much of what precedes it has been

examined in such detail.

socks over her role as a dynamo whose emotional insecurity

is buried under a fabulously attractive exterior; by virtue of her

character's assertiveness, she dominates the screen. But Hartnett's

performance as an awkward and retiring soul is at least equally

closely observed, as the actor makes quite touching the desires that

are so painful for to act upon.

Supporting turns by often familiar thesps ring true, with

Carroll Lynch getting the most screen time as a seemingly belligerent

man who helps the romance along.

Vidshot feature looks pretty good on the bigscreen, although

production values are basic. Some of the pop tune music choices are

too mainstream perky compared with the otherwise delicate handling of

the material.