A Boy Called Po

An autistic son makes life difficult and also a joy for a father who lost his wife and found himself struggling to cope with work, his son's education, and the lack of understanding the "normal" world has for this condition.

This film is suited for Lifetime TV or Hallmark Channel. With falling box office revenues, it's astonishing ithas had limited distribution to theaters.

Autism is a topic of massive concern that deserves to be treated with great care. This film presents a touching portrait of a widowed father trying to raise an autistic son on his own. Unfortunately it has the emotional finesse of a charging rhinoceros both in character-development and tone.

The father and son roles are aptly portrayed, but the script ventures into unknown territory and attempts to define it in ham-fisted ways. Then there's the played out trope of a grieving father who won't discuss his loss, despite repeated questioning from his son asking where his mom is. A lot of their interactions feel like those between two people who haven't met before, such as a dietary issue that could be remedied if the father bothered to incorporate what the boy needs (fiber) into what the boy wants.

The result feels overly ambitious. The school bully and others are one-dimensional and played with such gusto they lose their places. And then there's the person with whom Po most easily relates: a mentally-challenged person. Give me a break.

Most unforgivable was the happy ending; actually the avalanche of happy, tidy endings. The film's final act heads into territory that is so choked with tidy conclusions that I wondered what drama was up next to be neatly and much too easily solved. This script doesn't know when to stop.

John Asher and Julian Feder along with the original music from Burt Bacharach have created a film that is like no other. The cinematography, script, and brilliant acting all come together to show the world what autism is really like. The result is a truly honest film that shows the joys as well as the struggles of having an autistic child. John Asher was able to accurately show us how an autistic person lives and the beautiful world only they can see. One that is often so hard for them to share with the world. Using correct terminology to explain what autism is and how it affects someone, the film can help a viewer understand autism more fully. The relationships created through out the film are honest with reality and move the story along at the perfect rate. Centered around such an important topic, the film is both bold and gentle. It has times of comic relief, but be sure to bring some tissues.

I highly, highly recommend seeing this movie. It is one that will change the way this world sees autism.

As someone who has worked in the autism field for nearly a decade, I can vouch for "Po" as a film that captures the everyday challenges of thousands of families across the globe. Director John Asher's emphasis on the rawness of autism is met with magical cinematography that transports the audience to places beyond fantasy. Asher is the father of a son, Evan, who is on the autism spectrum, and insights from his personal experience are evident in the film.

Expertly written, the storyline grabs the viewer and takes them on a ride across the fine line of imagination and reality. Christopher Gorham and Julian Feder are an on-screen "dream team" - connected, convincing, and compelling.

"Po" is a brilliant film worth seeing again and again.

The subject 11-yr-old boy's name is Patrick, but he is called Po. His mother just died and his engineer dad is having difficulty juggling single parenthood and his job, and a big design project for a new type of airplane. Po has autism but is very bright, and has a vivid imagination. When he puts his mother's old scarf over his head he can escape to any number of far away exotic worlds.

It is a good story and the movie is very well made. There are some interesting developments, one of which is dad's discovery that Po had been making stock moves in dad's financial portfolio and it was worth many times more than he thought it would be.

My wife and I watched it on Amazon streaming movies. It is the type of movie I'd watch again after 6 to 12 months.