We saw a fascinating film at the Quad Cinema in lower
Manhattan on Sunday. We had not been there in a number of years and had not
realized that it was closed for renovations for almost two years before
reopening about a year ago. It is barely recognizable now: all modern and sleek
like other new movie theaters.
We went there to see a new film called “Keep the Change.”
The movie focuses on the lives of a group of young adults with various degrees
of autism, all of whom are played by young adults with this diagnosis. The main
story is based on the life of the lead actor, Brandon Polansky, a friend of the
film director and writer, Rachel Israel.
In the film, Brandon plays David, an aspiring filmmaker who
is mandated by a judge to attend a special program called “Connections” at the
Jewish Community Center on Manhattan’s Upper West Side after telling a pig joke
to a police officer. At this program he meets a lively young woman named Sarah
(played by Samantha Elisofon), and the two of them begin to develop a romantic
relationship. But the challenges are many. Living with her alcoholic grandmother,
Sarah is mostly on her own trying to navigate her world without anyone to
protect her from men who use and abuse her. David, meanwhile, does not appear
to recognize that there is anything different about him, while his mother (played
by Jessica Walter) has a hard time accepting the idea that her son might try to
function independently or be involved in a romantic relationship. They are
surrounded by and spend much of their time with a group of friends who have
similar functional limitations.
It is a sweet and moving story, and amazingly well acted given the fact that the main characters are played by actors who suffer from various degrees of cognitive and social disability.
If you have a chance, this one is worth seeing.
Love,
Rebecca
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