Temple Grandin

NR	Rottentomatoes.com Rating:100%	2010
(Depictions of animal blood/guts; mild, brief language)	Picky Flicks Quote: "The best biopic in a very, very long time." -A.O. Scott, At the Movies	RUNTIME: 1 hr. 43 mins.
Visit:www.screenit.com for complete details		Movie Mood:Impressed

I must admit that I've been struggling to produce much of anything worth reviewing recently. I know there are many many good, clean flicks that I've neglected to get to (or, perhaps, even view) here on Picky Flicks, but new films that match my criteria have been particularly hard to come by of late.

So, when Temple Grandin popped up as the first option during a three second Redbox pit stop (from which I was expecting absolutely nothing), I hit "add to cart" faster than you could say, "Box office blues," and tucked it in my purse, hoping all the way home that a) the scant (but positive) details I'd heard about the film were true and b) that it wasn't laden with incessant profanity or nudity. It is an HBO film after all.

A quick visit to www.commonsensemedia.org (highly recommended as an option to screenit.com when its selection falters) assured me that I would lose neither my eyeballs nor my eardrums from this viewing, and so the hubby and I settled down to the first film we've actually really wanted to watch in over a month.

Initially, I was a skeptical. You see, Temple Grandin is both the title of the film and the name of the film's protagonist, a young, autistic woman. And movies about people with special abilities or even disabilities (or, in Temple's case, both) are tricky things. They tend to garner critical acclaim simply because it feels a tad harsh to criticize an actor who chooses to set aside all vanity to play a mentally or physically challenged character, but they can also lean towards melodrama, emotional manipulation, and even excessive quirkiness.

The latter was my concern as the movie begins with Claire Dane's Temple announcing in an awkwardly loud voice, "I'm Temple Grandin, and I see life in pictures." Within the first few scenes, we are treated to a very literal interpretation of this fact as Temple takes people's figurative phrases such as, "It's a miracle," and sees flashes of Jesus walking on water (which are shared with the audience).

I found this technique off-putting and gimmicky initially, but as I grew used to it, it began to bother me less and less, probably because Claire Danes inhabits her character so fully and truthfully that she legitimizes even the gimmicks.

Temple is, as might be expected, socially limited. She doesn't like to be touched, she's painfully blunt, and much of her conversation sounds like it's being spoken by a tape recorder rather than a human being. "I'm Temple Grandin, and it's nice to meet you," she intones every time she encounters someone new.

No, Temple is not "normal," a fact that her mother (gently played by the lovely Julia Ormond) discovers early on when Temple transforms from a normal baby into an emotionally distant, tantrum prone toddler who shows no inclinations toward speech even at the age of four. This being the 60's, little is known about autism other than its common symptoms, and institutionalization is the only treatment.

Temple's mother will have none of this, though. Convinced that her daughter can learn, she painstakingly coaxes Temple into learning to speak and drills rote manners into her even though Temple doesn't really understand or see much use for such social niceties. Fast forward fourteen years, and Temple is now facing the possibility of college, a prospect that pleases her only too little. She's only just survived the trauma of high school and isn't keen on the thought of meeting yet another set of new people who will no doubt bully and belittle her just as much as the last.

But Temple's mother is convinced that she needs to continue her education because she has seen that, while Temple struggles with non-concrete concepts such as math and language, her abilities with images and manipulatives is virtually unparalleled. When Temple's mentor, sympathetic high school science teacher, Dr. Carlock, asks her if she can remember every pair of shoes she's ever seen, Temple immediately lists every pair of shoes that she and he own and sees flash after flash of the others she's seen in her eighteen years. Finally she responds, "Of course. Can't you?"

Such memory perfection baffles her college French professor who challenges Temple to tell him what she has just read from her textbook, to which Temple responds with a completely uncomprehending word-for-word recitation of the foreign phrases from the page she has just glanced at...complete with butchered pronunciation. But it is the ability to think in pictures that ultimately becomes her greatest asset, aiding her in a pursuit of an education that eventually leads to a doctorate in animal science.

Given what I've told you up until now about Temple, the fact that cows play an integral part in the plot of the film might sound like a bit of a head-scratcher, but while I am not going to go into all of the details of how or why this is true, I will assure you that it's less weird than it sounds. In fact, in Temple's literal brain, it makes perfect sense. After all, cows are easily spooked and overstimulated creatures who prefer order to chaos and routine to unpredictability. Temple feels a certain kinship with these gentle souls that impels her to study them for years, eventually resulting in an amazing invention that about half of the slaughterhouses in America currently employ.

Despite my initial doubts, Temple Grandin quickly won me over. It could have treated the topic of autism with a maudlin sentimentality that would have been nothing less than an insult to an overcomer like its protagonist, and it could have even chosen to get on an animal rights soapbox with the addition of Temple's interest in cattle and their treatment. But it chooses to do neither, instead focusing on the character rather than the "issues" and, in the process, treating the issues with a great deal more dignity and a much lighter hand than a more direct approach would have accomplished.

Temple Grandin, the film, is nothing short of a delight, thanks to a compelling story, an amazing performance from Claire Danes, and a clear-sighted vision. Temple Grandin, the person, is no less astonishing. And both are great reasons to hop in the car and grab this fantastic little biopic before it loses its spot to the latest shootemup, naked lady hybrid to hit the DVD scene.

Until next Wednesday, stay picky! Your mind will thank you later.