Molly

(Credit IMDb) A bachelor becomes the unwilling guardian of his autistic, retarded sister; then an experimental treatment works a dramatic change in her brain and his attitude.

This movie is quite sentimental and sweet, but it's not quite skilled enough to do what it aspires to be. The storyline itself was actually rather endearing. I felt Elisabeth Shue did a decent job playing a mentally challenged autistic girl, and transitioned very effectively to a smarter person. Portraying an autistic person isn't easy. Elisabeth Shue is far from the problem here. She struggles a bit sometimes, but considering it was a huge leap for her dramatically, I feel she deserves props. It gets a bit too ambitious in the second half, not to mention I had a hard time warming up to the main lead (Aaron Eckhart) There was just something about him that felt off to me, despite OK chemistry with Shue. It tries to go for the typical heartbreaking finale which is full of sap and sentiment, but I found it to be way too conventional. I also thought the love story between Elisabeth Shue and Thomas Jane was slightly contrived. It didn't feel real to me, and I thought it was just thrown in there for the sake of it. It tries to be a sad, thought provoking film, but fails. It's certainly keeps your attention, but it's not as powerful as it likes to believe it is.

5.8/10

I really wanted to like this movie but after 20 depressing minutes I started to play with my cat and do housework. The acting is mediocre and some performers are wasted. I feel this is probably due to the choppy editing which confused me. It seemed like whole sections were missing from the movie making me wonder did I miss something. The story was done much better in a wonderful film called "CHARLEY" with Cliff Robertson based on FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON. Apparently the movie premiered on airplanes and that should be a warning that the film is pretty awful. Elizabeth Shue gives a fine performance as the lead character and in some scenes she is quite touching. On the whole the best thing about watching this movie was I got to clean my apartment.

This is a touching, bittersweet and wonderful film about an autistic woman who gains full use of her cognitive reasoning through an experimental procedure. Molly (Elizabeth Shue) is a 28 year old autistic who has been institutionalized much of her life. When the institution closes, she is left in the care of her self absorbed brother Buck (Aaron Eckhart). She is recommended for a new experimental procedure which transforms her into a normal young woman. As the story unfolds we see her grow from a child into a woman with many sweet and funny moments resulting from Molly's view of the world through childlike eyes. As her relationship with her brother grows, his transformation is as dramatic as hers.

The film was charmingly done with a coming of age quality about it. There were numerous comical and heart warming moments resulting from Molly's misperception of a world she is trying to make sense of.

The only thing working against this film is the fact that this ground has been retraced in so many ways that it suffers from the tendency to compare it to other films. It has elements of ‘Flowers for Algernon', ‘Rainman', ‘At First Sight' and ‘Awakenings'. It is difficult for a film to be fully appreciated when the viewer is mentally comparing it to all these other stories. That is a pity in this case because this really is a lovable story in its own right.

Elizabeth Shue gives us marvelous performance as Molly. Her portrayal of autism is realistic and endearing. She is so childlike that you really sense that she has the mind of a 3 year old. Later, as she transitions to the mind of an adult, she retains that childlike naiveté that gives the character a purity and wisdom that is fresh and free from cynicism. It was a wonderful performance that regrettably will not be seen by many since this film lives in obscurity as a single facing on the rental shelves.

I rated Molly an 8/10. On an emotional level, I really enjoyed it more than that, but I felt compelled to subtract a couple of points for lack of originality. However, if you enjoy human interest stories this one will certainly touch your heart.

There are few great ideas in the world, so to claim that everything is a repeat of something else isn't too far off. Still, this movie takes the idea "Let's make a heartwarming story of a handicapped woman" and mushes it into crap. There are a lot of "Awakenings" factors in this movie, but the difference is Awakenings was worth watching. Awakenings was loosly based on fact. Molly seems to be a cheap rip off of all the better movies meant to make us better understand those around us who don't seem "normal". I find movies like this one, "The Other Sister", "I Am Sam", for more examples, to be an insult to mentally handicaped people. Take a big name star and watch them try to act less than normal. Bobby D and Dustin Hoffman are the only ones who have pulled it off for the newer generation. Everyone else is trying to play catch-up. Shue's performance is lame, weak, and a joke. While this movie does nothing more than try to manipulate the human emotions, magnify the human condition, it doesn't succeed on either front.

Loosely cribbed from Daniel Keyes' novel "Flowers for Algernon" this moist tale follows experimental surgery subject, Molly who overcomes autism only to regress as the procedure's effects fade. We're supposed to realize that, the mentally disabled are people to - and have something to teach us. But this ham fisted tale ends up communicating a less profound message more along the lines of - some of them like to obsessively line up shoes.