Temple Grandin

On DVD, a Netflix rental.

The story jumps around a bit in time but it is never done arbitrarily, and is always easy to follow. It spans from the mid 1950s to the late 1970s.

Claire Danes is Temple Grandin, born with autism at a time when autism was not yet understood. An indication was telling the mother that the 4-year-old girl should be institutionalized, ostensibly for the rest of her life, because there was no "cure." This movie, and Temple Grandin's life, shows that there is no cure, but it also shows how that cannot hold back a person with the correct motivation.

I've always liked Claire Danes, as a pleasant actress in lightweight roles, but her performance here caught me completely off guard. The biggest compliment I can give is that very quickly I wasn't watching Danes portray Grandin, I was watching Grandin. I have seen many, many great performances in my 50+ years of enjoying movies and none were better than hers here.

Julia Ormond is her mother Eustacia and Catherine O'Hara is her Aunt Ann, where Temple first was exposed to life on a farm while visiting her for the summer before college.

Temple had difficulty but managed high school, and then also college. She was unusually bright, but not in the usual sense. She could not just listen to a subject, she had to visualize it, experience it, and when she did was able to master it like few could. In college her great motivator was David Strathairn as Dr. Carlock, a science teacher. Not only did he stand up for her when others wanted to dismiss her as too difficult, he taught her that when she sees a door (a barrier) she should look it as a door of opportunity. She kept that vision as she encountered barriers, and she encountered them often.

Temple Grandin was both practical and empathetic. One of her specialties became livestock, cattle. She knew they had a purpose, to be killed for our food, but she set out to improve the handling of cattle so as to keep them calm and minimize their suffering. It is estimated that 50% of the cattle handled in North America today are done so by techniques she pioneered and worked to have implemented. Today she is a professor.

A superb movie of a really inspiring woman.

March 2018 update: I watched it again now, it was just as absorbing as it was when I first watched it.

So much Autism in my family and such a rinse to see it portrayed in a respectful and yet, unhappy and troubled way. Autism is not for the Hallmark Card set - it is not for the After School Special digesters - it is difficult and rife with woe but also filled with newness and, forgive the hyperbole, wonder.

I thought the director and Danes went to important extremes that were so vital to telling this great, great story.

I have A.S. and I will tell you - the moment Temple realigns the uneven wallpaper in her mind - it had me. THAT is the mind of someone outside the room of traditional music. This is a great film and Claire Danes is giving the performance of unbelievable honesty and valor. Bravo to Jackson - Brava to Danes.

Don't miss this movie. You will be glad you saw it. It does a great job of letting you see the world through the eyes of Temple Grandin.

I've seen the real Temple in documentaries and such several times, and although Claire is too good looking - she does a great job of capturing what it is like to be Temple.

The movie is intense and I almost felt like I was experiencing the world the way Temple would. Congratulations to the writers and director.

Temple is a brave and heroic figure and this movie will leave you spiritually uplifted and optimistic.

If this were not a TV movie I would expect it to be listed as an Oscar nominee. The movie is captivating not only for the exceptional acting but providing us with a glimpse into the world of autism. Everything about this movie points to excellence: the writing, the direction, the cinematography and the acting of a superb cast featuring Claire Danes in what must be the role of a lifetime.

The movie is moving in its emotional impact without becoming maudlin. The pace of the movie is quick and takes us through a number of years in the fascinating life of Temple Grandin without losing us or boring us.

Temple Grandin describes herself in the movie as "different not less." I would describe the movie as "different and great."

The cast and the crew may well be in line for Emmys and Golden Globes. If so, let no one say it was because of sympathy for the subject matter. It deserves any awards it wins for the excellence of the production values.

This is TV at its best!

I saw a documentary on Temple Grandin that I found very inspirational. I had hoped that this film would bring about the same feelings and, thankfully, it did not disappoint. Claire Danes hit a home run with this one; I was really impressed with her portrayal. She went smoothly through the extremes of emotion that Temple felt: terror to delight, anger to pride. The sometimes halting, awkward way that Temple speaks combined with the often too-loud volume must have been difficult for her to mimic. But Danes managed to do it very convincingly. The director, Mick Jackson, should also be proud of what he's accomplished. The addition of the moving cattle diagrams and the distorted sounds really gave the viewer an idea of how Temple's mind works. This is my favorite HBO film since "Something the Lord Made" and I hope it gets the recognition it well deserves.