Max Brandel (Bobby Cannavale) is a stand-up comedian and storyteller. Like many in his profession, he draws inspiration from his life and his relationships. Also, like many in his profession, he is not particularly funny as his set revolves mostly around the depressing realities of caring for his autistic son, Ezra (William A. Fitzgerald).
Divorced from his wife Jenna (Rose Byrne), the two remain amicable for the sake of their son. However, tensions begin to flair as Ezra‘s increasingly uncontrollable behaviour in class results in his expulsion from yet another school. With Max influenced by his no-nonsense father Stan (Robert De Niro), the prospect of Ezra moving to a special needs school infuriates him. With his own volatile behaviour mounting, Max takes action after Ezra is forced to take new medications.
Leaving in the dead of night without authorisation, Max takes Ezra on a car trip. What starts as an aimless journey becomes a cross-country voyage of self discovery and transcendence for the father and son. Unsure of what he will find, Max heads for a job opportunity in Los Angeles, stopping briefly with friends and family along the way. Terrified of what may happen, Jenna fears for the safety of not only her troubled son but also her troubled ex-husband.
With the spectrum of autism and our understanding of it growing each year, more and more parents are finding themselves challenged by raising a child considered different. This was the experience of screenwriter Tony Spiridakis whose relationship with his son and subsequent marriage break-up inspired him to write the story of Ezra. Reworked over the years with friend and director Tony Goldwyn, the two have put together a film about not needing to “fix” what isn’t necessarily broke. This message resonated with several actors in Hollywood leading to this film’s star studded cast.
Great care was taken during production of Ezra to maintain the film’s authenticity in its representation of autism. Several screenings were held for those of the autism community and many members of the crew were on the spectrum. The results in a film which can be painfully realistic at times.
Max‘s situation is one that we can all empathise with, whether or not we personally have autistic family members. All of Ezra‘s family clearly love him and want to what’s best for him, but the conflicts at times come from their own stubbornness. Alcoholism, OCD, abuse, generational trauma, arrested development and selfishness are all looked at in one way or another. The film casts a wide net over the ideas that it wishes to cover, even if some receive substantially more focus than others.
Ezra feels lost between being a comedy and a serious drama at times. Scenes which probably should be dead serious are treated with irreverence, and several jokes fall flat in the aftermath, a running gag about a stolen frying pan being one of the largest casualties. It sometimes works as the characters are exhausted by their situations, coping in their own way. It just becomes tiresome as Spiridakis tries to make us laugh when we’re not feeling like we should.
William A. Fitzgerald makes his screen debut here as Ezra, and the young man is wonderful in the role. Like much of the crew, Fitzgerald is on the spectrum himself which lends credence to his performance. The relationship between Ezra and his family is bolstered by the talents of a variety of stars, but none more than Cannavale. He gives a powerful performance as a man trying to do the right thing but going about it the wrong way. While we empathise with Max, his actions and his own disorder can be more frustrating than that of the severely of his autistic child! Especially when it comes to the stress he is inflicting on that child’s mother.
Ezra is a heart-warming story of a family, each member with their own shortcomings trying to do what is best for the youngest and most troubled among them. Goldwyn’s direction brings out incredible performances from his cast and displays one of De Niro’s few admirable roles in a long time. However, Spiridakis’ script, while coming from a good place, can get lost in the reeds of the issues it aims to tackle, making Ezra a more authentic look at autism than it is a fully fleshed out motion picture.
Ezra is in cinemas now.