‘Ezra’ follows a stand-up comedian living with his father, while struggling to co-parent his autistic son with his soon-to-be ex-wife.
When forced to confront difficult decisions about their son’s future, Max and Ezra embark on a cross country road trip that has a major impact on both their lives.
This film is an endearing and funny exploration of a family determined to find their way through life’s complexities with humor, compassion and heart.
‘Ezra’ is one of those films that will tug at your heartstrings a few times. Throughout this film, you get to see how the family handles (or tries to handle) the situation of taking care of an autistic child and how difficult it could be.
William A. Fitzgerald, who is also autistic in real life, does an incredible job in his feature film acting debut. He works extremely well with the other actors and some of his moments can be really emotional and, at times, humorous. There are a couple times where he spouts out quotes from ‘Breaking Bad,’ which can be funny.
There’s a bittersweet moment in the film where we see someone just met give him a hug (which he never allows) and he eventually returns the hug. Just seeing the father’s reaction to seeing this made the scene extremely moving.
‘Ezra’ is a film that can either make you laugh or tear up a little. Also, having an actor who has autism portray the autistic child really helped the film feel more real. This is a film that should be seen if you know someone who is autistic or, most importantly, if you’re a parent of an autistic child.
So, during the Summer Film Festival, make sure to add ‘Ezra’ on the list of films to check out! Also make sure to check my Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews page on Facebook for some other takes of other film festival films I have seen!
The cast: Bobby Cannavale as Max; William A. Fitzgerald as Ezra; Rose Byrne as Jenna; Daphne Rubin-Vega as Principal Lee; Tess Goldwyn as Mrs. Cathro; Alex Plank as Dr. Kaplan; Rainn Wilson as Nick; Vera Farmiga as Grace; Tony Goldwyn as Bruce; Whoopi Goldberg as Jane and Robert DeNiro as Stan.
‘Ezra’ is written by Tony Spiridakis and directed by Tony Goldwyn.
Writer Tony Spiridakis actually began writing the script many years before the making of this feature film. He was inspired by his relationship with his own autistic son and the break up of his marriage during his son’s teenage years.
The creators of the film began the casting process knowing they wanted an autistic actor to play the lead. The film also had multiple autistic crew members on set to ensure its authenticity.
‘Ezra’ had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2023.
‘Ezra’ is rated R for language, some sexual references and drug use and has a running time of 101 minutes.
The remaining show dates and times for the film are as follows: Thurs. July 25 at 2:30; Sunday July 28 at 2:15 and Thurs. Aug. 1 at 7:00.
And, coming up on the review front - ‘Twisters,’ ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ ‘Harold and the Purple Crayon’ and more!
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