ONTD Original: Should you see Ezra (2024)? An autistic person's opinion
So I went to the Monday mystery movie on 5/20. I signed up for the mailing list for the unofficial mystery movie. The email I got that day said 200+ votes were cast, and the top guesses were: 1. the Linklater movie starring capybara guy who is not an ONTD BF and Timothy Olyphant, who I have decided is an ONTD BF because I liked Deadwood a lot and am about to do a rewatch because I haven’t seen the movie yet. [Nvm Olyphant was in a different movie -- Hitman (2007) -- I have never seen it either hitmen movies so idk.] 2. Ezra. 3. Furiosa.
Anyway. It was not hitman, it was not furiosa. It was also not treasure, a movie starring two thirds of my nightmare blunt rotation (Stephen Fry and ONTD Fave [citation needed] Lena Dunham).
It was Ezra. Also dw it’s not about Ezra Miller, as noted by this person who commented in the YouTube section of the video for the trailer.
The trailer is hosted on Jimmy Kimmel Live’s YouTube page (cursed):
You can view the trailer and watch an interview with the screenwriter below the cut, but let me first share with you the reason why this movie gave me - an actual autistic person, diagnosed by experts at a research university - the icks (also to be clear, self-diagnosed autistic people are valid and don't necessarily need a diagnosis. It can be expensive to get one, and it also limits your ability to establish residency in other countries if you have an official diagnosis, so you gotta weigh the pros and cons):
Yeah, in case you forgot, Robert DeNiro was gonna screen Vaxxed (the pseudoscientific propaganda movie that has been discredited by scientists and also hbomberguy) at Tribeca but pulled it due to public outcry. He was mad about it, as you can see in the above interview. He also has an autistic son, and I wonder if he still thinks vaccines caused it. Hm.
My title was clickbait. I’m actually not gonna tell you if you should see it. As noted by podcaster and Autistics for Autistics co-founder Anne Borden King, this movie provided jobs for multiple autistic people -- on and off camera -- including the talented young actor who plays the titular role.
If you listen to the Borden King's interview with screenwriter Tony Spirdakis and autistic co-producer Alex Planck, you will find that the production tried to focus on the concept of "nothing about us without us." They also did their best to provide accommodations for both neurodivergent and neurotypical cast and crew and go into detail about that. It's a far cry from Bradley Cooper, who did not allow people to sit in chairs during the filming of that Oscar bait movie about Leonard Bernstein. There were also no prosthetic noses.
All of the acting was excellent, including DeNiro (he’s good in most movies, ngl). Any of them could get an Oscar nom, and I wouldn’t be mad.
But like… Could this movie have been made without DeNiro? Yes. Guess who directed it and has a small role in the movie. It was the guy who was the Sexy President in Scandal and also the Sexy Billionaire in the most recent episode of Hacks, a critically acclaimed HBO series you should watch on HBO Max. It also stars Bobby Cannavale, who co-starred with Cate Blanchett and Lou*s CK in a W**dy All*n movie. Rose Byrne, who was so good in Spy and Damages (she was as good as Glenn Close, her co-star!!!) plays Ezra’s mom. The guy who played Dwight on the office (I never saw a single ep, okay, I just know him from the gifs and also I unfortunately saw the Ricky Gervais version ages ago before he showed his ass as a transphobic piece of shit, and I didn’t like the original so…) has a role with some of the best lines in the movie, imo. Dwight actor was also on Russell Brand's podcast? Eek. Vera Farmiga, Taissa Farmiga’s cousin and the little girl from the gilded age also play mother and daughter. The lady from The View who defended Roman Polanski is in it. I think it was enough star power to raise money for the project, and I think the script was good enough to attract a number of great actors who could have replaced DeNiro (based alone on one single movie I have rewatched recently, I would say Ray Winstone or Ben Kingsley, the stars of sexy beast, would have killed it).
And also it stars Jimmy Kimmel, who is pro-vax which is good but sucks for other reasons (you can discuss those in the comments below, there are at least 13 reasons why).
I think it has good representation and found it relatable.
Oscar bait? Maybe. That's what some film reviewers are saying according to rotten tomatoes.
Oh btw, William A. Fitzgerald improvised some of the lines in the movie, including one in which he references the house of Vera Farmiga's character. He said it looks like a scary house, like the one in The Conjuring. They weren't sure about including it because it broke the fourth wall, but it was too good not to, according to the screenwriter of this movie, as heard
It opens today.
Oh PS: For more info on Autism, I gotta recommend Dr. Devon Price's work, which includes the books "Laziness Does Not Exist" and "Unmasking Autism."
I also gotta recommend his essays!. Here are interviews with him from him on The Spiral Lab's livestream and also Matt Bernstein's Something Fruity podcast, which you can see below the cut.
Um this is kinda long. I'm also often a member of the ONTD doesn't read club, but I hope some of you enjoy it despite the fact that it's tl;dr and I didn't exactly proofread it. I also wrote it around midnight, so... Mods, let me know if it needs more cuts. ONTDers, please let me know if you notice any egregious errors or disagree with me on something I wrote. These are just my personal opinions and I do not represent all autistic people. We are not a monolithic group. As we say, if you've met one autistic person, you've met one autistic person.
Sources:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Anyway. It was not hitman, it was not furiosa. It was also not treasure, a movie starring two thirds of my nightmare blunt rotation (Stephen Fry and ONTD Fave [citation needed] Lena Dunham).
It was Ezra. Also dw it’s not about Ezra Miller, as noted by this person who commented in the YouTube section of the video for the trailer.
The trailer is hosted on Jimmy Kimmel Live’s YouTube page (cursed):
You can view the trailer and watch an interview with the screenwriter below the cut, but let me first share with you the reason why this movie gave me - an actual autistic person, diagnosed by experts at a research university - the icks (also to be clear, self-diagnosed autistic people are valid and don't necessarily need a diagnosis. It can be expensive to get one, and it also limits your ability to establish residency in other countries if you have an official diagnosis, so you gotta weigh the pros and cons):
Click to viewYeah, in case you forgot, Robert DeNiro was gonna screen Vaxxed (the pseudoscientific propaganda movie that has been discredited by scientists and also hbomberguy) at Tribeca but pulled it due to public outcry. He was mad about it, as you can see in the above interview. He also has an autistic son, and I wonder if he still thinks vaccines caused it. Hm.
My title was clickbait. I’m actually not gonna tell you if you should see it. As noted by podcaster and Autistics for Autistics co-founder Anne Borden King, this movie provided jobs for multiple autistic people -- on and off camera -- including the talented young actor who plays the titular role.
If you listen to the Borden King's interview with screenwriter Tony Spirdakis and autistic co-producer Alex Planck, you will find that the production tried to focus on the concept of "nothing about us without us." They also did their best to provide accommodations for both neurodivergent and neurotypical cast and crew and go into detail about that. It's a far cry from Bradley Cooper, who did not allow people to sit in chairs during the filming of that Oscar bait movie about Leonard Bernstein. There were also no prosthetic noses.
All of the acting was excellent, including DeNiro (he’s good in most movies, ngl). Any of them could get an Oscar nom, and I wouldn’t be mad.
But like… Could this movie have been made without DeNiro? Yes. Guess who directed it and has a small role in the movie. It was the guy who was the Sexy President in Scandal and also the Sexy Billionaire in the most recent episode of Hacks, a critically acclaimed HBO series you should watch on HBO Max. It also stars Bobby Cannavale, who co-starred with Cate Blanchett and Lou*s CK in a W**dy All*n movie. Rose Byrne, who was so good in Spy and Damages (she was as good as Glenn Close, her co-star!!!) plays Ezra’s mom. The guy who played Dwight on the office (I never saw a single ep, okay, I just know him from the gifs and also I unfortunately saw the Ricky Gervais version ages ago before he showed his ass as a transphobic piece of shit, and I didn’t like the original so…) has a role with some of the best lines in the movie, imo. Dwight actor was also on Russell Brand's podcast? Eek. Vera Farmiga, Taissa Farmiga’s cousin and the little girl from the gilded age also play mother and daughter. The lady from The View who defended Roman Polanski is in it. I think it was enough star power to raise money for the project, and I think the script was good enough to attract a number of great actors who could have replaced DeNiro (based alone on one single movie I have rewatched recently, I would say Ray Winstone or Ben Kingsley, the stars of sexy beast, would have killed it).
And also it stars Jimmy Kimmel, who is pro-vax which is good but sucks for other reasons (you can discuss those in the comments below, there are at least 13 reasons why).
I think it has good representation and found it relatable.
Oscar bait? Maybe. That's what some film reviewers are saying according to rotten tomatoes.
Oh btw, William A. Fitzgerald improvised some of the lines in the movie, including one in which he references the house of Vera Farmiga's character. He said it looks like a scary house, like the one in The Conjuring. They weren't sure about including it because it broke the fourth wall, but it was too good not to, according to the screenwriter of this movie, as heard
It opens today.
Oh PS: For more info on Autism, I gotta recommend Dr. Devon Price's work, which includes the books "Laziness Does Not Exist" and "Unmasking Autism."
I also gotta recommend his essays!. Here are interviews with him from him on The Spiral Lab's livestream and also Matt Bernstein's Something Fruity podcast, which you can see below the cut.
Um this is kinda long. I'm also often a member of the ONTD doesn't read club, but I hope some of you enjoy it despite the fact that it's tl;dr and I didn't exactly proofread it. I also wrote it around midnight, so... Mods, let me know if it needs more cuts. ONTDers, please let me know if you notice any egregious errors or disagree with me on something I wrote. These are just my personal opinions and I do not represent all autistic people. We are not a monolithic group. As we say, if you've met one autistic person, you've met one autistic person.
Sources:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6