A quite different and good movie about two people with personal challenges.
24 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
We are told this is a fictional story inspired by real people and real events. Asperger's autism is the diagnosis. Many with this affliction can get along just fine in the world, hold down jobs, even be an example to others, but certain characteristics make it hard for them to function "normally" around others and especially enter into positive love relationships.

Josh Hartnett is Donald Morton and in the opening minutes we find out (1) he is perhaps on his last cab gig, having lost all the others and (2) he assembles and facilitates a group of others with social disorders and helps them cope. However, talking too much to his fares and not paying attention, he crashes his cab into a parked flower delivery truck, and just walks away from the accident. We can clearly see he has some issues.

A new person shows up in the group, Radha Mitchell as Isabelle Sorenson. She works as a hair stylist and also paints. She is very pretty and articulate in an interesting way, and she and Donald start to fall for each other. They become friends then lovers, but it is filled with surprises, and nothing works out very smoothly.

Donald is a savant of sorts with numbers, and Isabelle helps him get a job where he has to look over very complex computer print outs and check them for validity or inconsistency, something he is perfect for.

I enjoyed the story and the acting seemed very real. The title comes from their choices of costume for an event, she as Mozart and he as a Whale.
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