Rated R

EZRA tells the story of a divorced couple struggling to raise their autistic son. Faced with uncertain medical treatment and tough educational choices, the situation is complicated by the father’s unconventional job as a stand-up comic and a well-meaning-but-sometimes-out-of-touch grandfather.

The cast does a fine job humanizing the complex situation, and director Tony Goldwyn seems comfortable in his wheelhouse of real-life relationship drama.

I applaud the film for neither sensationalizing nor demonizing autism. It also shows that the problem isn’t the child as much as it is the adults. Whether its strangers offering unsolicited advice, experts recommending conflicting solutions, or the parents themselves making their own bad decisions, the grown-ups can be the biggest problem.

This hard truth is the film’s greatest strength and greatest weakness. Because not everyone is ready to hear that truth.

Relevant to many, but often frustratingly realistic to watch, EZRA gets three and a half stand-up mics out of five. I’m Kevin Carr, and that’s the way I see it

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