Hors Normes

Based on the true story of a man named Stephane Benhamou and his organization, The film tells the story of Bruno, a middle-aged French man who has dedicated his life to help and support people and families dealing with autism. Bruno, played flawlessly by Vincent Cassel, runs a semi-pro organization along his friend and colleague Malik (Reda Kateb) and together they do all they possibly can to build a life for children and adolescents with the most severe cases od autism.

This film is sharply written, you'll get throwed into the heart of story form the very first minutes and you'll get to know the various characters, the legal problems of the organization, the children and their parents (or lack there of) and as the story unfolds to you bit by bit, you'll soon forget that you're just watching a motion picture, you'll forget that Cassel and Kateb are two superstars imposing as these roles.

This is a very moving film. It clearly is a passion project for the directors (they actually waited a long time to make this), and the film is simply amazing. I wish this was on every screen instead of some crap they're showing these days.

This is definitely one of the better films of the year. The plot is brilliantly non-Hollywoodlistic in terms of no major narrational jumps or peaks, but instead situates itself as almost daily depiction of the life of Bruno, Malik and the rest. Whilst dealing with difficult societal issues it, in classic french drama-style uses humour and feel-good scenes to highlight certain issues, but the overall feeling left after watching the film is that it does so to perfection.

"The Specials" is a Comedy - Drama movie in which we watch two men being responsible for two separate nonprofit organizations for children and adolescents with autism. They both run their organizations for more than twenty years and they also train young people to become caregivers.

I was amazed by this movie because it presented the real face of not only autism on children and adults but also how society and healthcare system treat them. I could not believe how horrible is the healthcare system regarding these cases and how only a few people from nonprofit organizations truly care about them. The interpretations of both Vincent Cassel who played as Bruno Haroche and Reda Kateb who played as Malik were very good and they presented how is the life of a person responsible for so many children with autism. All in all, I have to say that "The Specials" is an amazing movie and I highly recommend everyone to watch it because I am sure that you won't only learn more about autism but even more about society and the healthcare system..

This is probably not the best movie this year in any particular aspect. It is the fact that it's outstanding in many of them which makes it one of the memorable ones for me.

Sure, the story is made to please. There's no twist in the plot or sophistication in the narration technique. Nothing too innovative about it indeed. The message alone, however, is very powerful, despite its predictability. Add a well-measured balance of dramatic and hilarious moments, a story that moves fast along with remarkable acting, and the movie stands.

You'll get the best out of it if you watch it in French, of course. Very certainly worth one's time.

The story: this movie portrays an independent volunteer organisation that helps the most severe autistic patients, which cant get / find any help from the official care providers. Because this volunteer organisation is not an official care provider, they get inquiries by the official government agencies. Will they be able to keep providing care for these vunerable autistic patients or will they be shut down by the government because of bureacratic rules?

The good: endearing, warmhearted portrait of volunteers who care for those autistic people who are abondoned by the official care providers.

More good: some of the finest French actors, performing at their best, among one of them is the famous actor Vincent Cassel, who plays a care giver who dedicates his entire life to the care of autitistic patients.

Autistic people struggle tremendously with intense fears in very ordinary situations, like taking a subway or solliciting for a job. With these very severe autistic people their fears get "translated" into very severe behavioural disorders, like self obsessive repetitive behaviour or even self mutalation.

Not many movies get made about autistic people. This is definitely one that is straight from the heart. Endearing, impressive and shocking, but in the end uplifting and hopeful, because with proper care even the most severe autistic people can improve the quality of their restricted lives...