I was somewhat confused. It felt that the autism was reduced to a couple of traits picked up by a brochure. A bit of research revealed that the author of the book had very close experience with autism. It seems that the problem might reside in the adaptation to the screen.
When doing adaptations a couple things tend to get lost. It is good to leave the family saga elements behind (subplots relating to the grandparents). The book spanned a longer time frame and in it you would see the evolution of the child and of how the parents related to the child. The writers seem to have picked a couple of elements but it wasn;t nicely woven together. Instead of the weaving there seems to be too much negative space. Add to that the not very captivating acting af several actors, and i ended up using the fast forward button quite a few times.
Of the other elements of filmmaking such as cinematography or music, not much is to be said. It wasn't awful but never really special, captivating or inspiring.
I think there might be better movies about autism or documentaries. There could be some catharsis in it for parents who are dealing with the challenges of raising a child with special needs. And for them... it sounds like the book might be the better option.
