David's Mother (1994)

Finally, a film which portrays autism with some realism. this film describes the challenges of raising a disabled child, how it may affect family relations, and its rewards. David is severely autistic. He has no savant skills (Hollywood's usual obsession with the disorder), think Rain Man; similarly there is no 'miracle cure' offered. For other autism films which are far less accurate and therefore damaging, see: Mercury Rising, Silent Fall, Molly, House of Cards, I am Sam, The Pit. A generally well acted film. Kirstie Alley is excellent. Stockard Channing has her moments, but regularly verges on serious over-acting. Sam Waterson, if not actually autistic himself (surely he is!?) is amazing. Well worth a watch, particularly if only to find an alternative to the inaccurate representations of autism which Hollywood thrives on.

I must confess to a partiality for this type of film and did enjoy this one. However, I found it too much on the negative side and with a too low feelgood factor. I thought that David's "performance" was excellent and extremely realistic ( I am assuming the actor concerned is not autistic in real life ) but I thought that David's mother, as personnified by Kirstie Alley, went a bit over the top. Of course, the situation is difficult to live but one cannot even detect a glimmer of hope in Alley's attitude towards John who was an extremely kind and understanding man and willing to tackle the problem of David. All the mother can do is tell him to get lost ! - it's pushing the negative dramatic element too far in the direction of pessimism. Of course it must be very difficult to bring up a child like David, but one would have thought that John's presence would change things for the better. One saw this very briefly with David learning to operate the VCR but the optimism stops there.It's all well and good trying to be acutely realistic and doubtless this film corresponds perfectly to real live situations which have been lived. But I think that Cinema is there to make us dream, albeit only a little in some cases, and the viewer needs some "positive elements" to enable him/her to feel good about watching the film. After all, it IS a film and not a real-life documentary. Basically, one is left with a bitter aftertaste in one's mouth because of Kirstie Alley's boorish, offhand and uncompromising attitude with all those around her. One would have expected this attitude of course to dominate initially but to gradually disappear as the story unfolds throughout the film. Unfortunately this does not seem to be the case and whilst there is a minimum of gratitude on the part of Alley towards the John element, one feels that deep down she has not really changed that much and intends to continue as before. Big deal !So, all in all, good acting ( beautiful actors, John is very handsome and Kirstie Alley, when properly dressed up is pretty sexy ( for me, at least !! ), but an overly negative storyline which could have been improved upon without going too much in the other direction !

this is one of the best movies i have EVER seen. not just tv movie. movie period. go to amazon. go to ebay. and buy this movie. its absolutly brilliant. and kirstie alley is indescrible..kirstie alley plays sally goodson. a lonely,self deprecating woman that has spent her whole life taking..well the last 16 years of her life taking care of her autistic son david. over those years shes let go of things she didnt mean to. her marriage,her life,and even her older daughter all because she wanted to tend to her sons everyday needs. not only because she liked it,but because it made her feel like a whole person. thats something shes never felt before. Her sister played by stockard channing decides that she needs to meet people and get out more so she introduces her to John,played by Sam Waterson. He wants to help her,and love her but shes afraid...shes afraid to love someone and get intimate and she doesnt want anyone to help her take care of david. While this going on a social worker catches up with the fact that david needs to be in a home,or a place to take better care of him that sally is. Theres just so much she can do to help him. Shes trying to prevent this from happening because the last thing she wants is to loose him,she would fall apart..I cant tell anyone enough about this movie and most importantly about kirstie alley. shes my favorite actress ever and in this movie you really can see what she can do. just coming off of cheers in 1994 when this movie was made she recieved a well deserved emmy. i beg you to see this movie. its amazing.

Dealing with an autistic child, his demand for the family's attention, and their inability to focus their lives on anything other than this child. Realistic rather than sentimental, an unpleasant topic successfully presented with first-rate editing, acting and direction. Kirstie Alley, as the child's harried mom, comes up with a mesmerizing and utterly convincing portrayal.