The Story of Luke (2013)

I have a serious bone to pick with the review entitled "Swing for the Fence, Hit a Single". This movie is top shelf precisely because it does not contain contrived performances from Dustin Hoffman or Sean Penn. No card counting, no mesmerizing mathematical tricks, no contrived slurred speech from Penn impatiently waiting for his next exorbitant paycheck. Despite the miserable rating assigned by its' author "The Story of Luke" has received higher ratings than "I am Sam". The acting is precise, yet understated. Lou Taylor Pucci's performance is perfection. Seth Green does what he does best. Cary Elwes is, well, Cary Elwes. I strongly recommend this movie, you will not regret it.

I am awash in a family of people with ADD and ADHD, as the Seth Green character was. Autistic people intrigue me, because we are supposedly somewhere on that spectrum. I was a gifted child and software engineer for 35 years, and still have no filter. So this movie taught me a little about 'being normal', something I've always wondered about. I needed Seth Green to explain to me how to be or ape being neurologically normal: to pretend interest when you aren't, to look into someone's eyes but not too long so as not to appear weird, to use stupid" small talk to buffer the conversation, etc, etc. I never knew any of this stuff. Had I learned to be tactful, to couch my true feelings in the little white lies of which society is made, then maybe I wouldn't have had 3 husbands and 3 divorces. This movie is essential watching for people like me, male or female. Your heart bleeds, as you realize 'normalcy' with its hypocrisies and cruelties will never be his. His pitiful rotten mom will perhaps never be able to be anywhere near his mother . But his aunt sure turned herself around and I really loved that part. So much of what is insightful about this movies revolves around Luke's blatant honesty, his utter guilelessness. I think so much of this screenplay must have been written by someone who knew intimately an autistic person. Will my grandson ever be able to stay married, have a 'normal' adulthood, whatever that is? Will Adderall/methyl phenydrate and these other horrid drugs be what his life will comprise? God, I hope not, but movies like this kinda help us learn to ape whatever it is we need to get along in the workaday world. Wanna make a lot of money? Become a socialization coach for people like Luke and myself. Daddy took Dale Carnegies courses to help him; autistic folks should be able to have similar training. The support he got from this great, non perfect family of his thrilled me What a movie!!!! And who the Hell wants to be normal, anyhow?

I posted a very similar review to Amazon as well, so I hope I'm not posting a duplicate review, or breaking any rules here.I chose to watch this movie quite randomly. Fortunately, what I stumbled upon was a beautifully written story, with some really entertaining and funny moments. At the beginning I thought "Oh boy, this is going to be depressing," but it wasn't long before the family dynamics captured my interest. I found Aunt Cindy's character and her reaction to the situation, entirely believable. The evolution of relationships in the family was moving and believable. The kids, Luke's cousins, were wonderfully written and acted.At first, I thought the addition of the Zack character was odd and unlikely. But it got better and better, and added some comic relief to the serious subject matter. The scene observing the "NT's mating rituals" was so dang funny, I rewound and watched it several times. I think choosing Seth Green for the role was genius. He was entirely believable as an oddball guy working for his father's company, and the friendship that developed between Zach and Luke rang true.In the end, there were things left unresolved that I wanted to see: would Zack and Luke get to stay in touch? It seemed like a such a loss for Luke. And the absence of the Mom from the Grandmother's Funeral, and failure of the movie to show the Grandfather's funeral, where she would surely have to make an appearance and face Luke... I don't know. It just seemed like those scenes were avoided because they would be too messy to include. Of course, issues in life don't always get wrapped up in a tidy little 2 hour package, that's real life. But the birth mom at Grandfather's Funeral seemed like part of the story to me.I was so surprised how much I was moved and entertained by this movie. I just had to write a review but I dreaded seeing other reviews. I braced myself for a scathing outcry about the use of the word "retarded" and angry reviews insisting that "The Story of Luke" wasn't a realistic representation of a person with Autism. To my great relief and surprise, nearly everyone seems to love this movie as much as I do. There are very few reviews with anything negative to say. It's not hard to spot planted positive reviews, or "friends of the film" reviews, and I'm not seeing that in the well-deserved, overwhelmingly positive comments. Most people seem to be as impressed with this movie as I was, for it's powerful emotional message and for it's entertainment value. This beautiful movie is a must-see, whether or not you have a family member with a disability.

I too saw this at the Maryland International Film Festival and I thought it was great. These are the types of films that I love to see in small festivals. The story was good and I thought Lou did a great job. Not to mention the fun with Seth Green. I am surprised that with all the other awards, that it didn't actually win anything at the MDIFF but it had good competition. To add to a previous review, the "International" part of Maryland International Film Festival stands for the fact that they will except films from anywhere in the world. Not that the film had to be made in more than one country. My first short film "Transient" which is not on IMDb, was part of the Official Selection.