EZRA (2024) - Mark Reviews Movies

Ezra, Bleecker Street

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Review by Mark Dujsik | May 30, 2024

To its credit, Ezra is direct in its approach to confronting the challenges of a family living with autism within their ranks. They talk about it—not in that roundabout and euphemistic way of so many movies featuring the subject, either. The eponymous 11-year-old boy, who is on the spectrum, isn't referred to as "special," "different," "unique," or any other terms that attempt to make people more comfortable but don't really address anything. Ezra (William A. Fitzgerald) has autism, and his family wants what's best for him. They're still figuring out what that means for the boy.

Tony Spiridakis' screenplay, unfortunately, isn't prepared to confront what that means for this family, though. For all of the frank talk about the family's confusion and feelings of failing the kid, director Tony Goldwyn's movie ultimately decides to tackle this story in an indirect and formulaic way. The talk in this movie may be to-the-point, in other words, but the conversation at its core is too distracted by a lot of external matters to actually say anything.

The setup shows some promise at that start, as it simply follows Ezra, his father Max (Bobby Cannavale), his mother Jenna (Rose Byrne), and his paternal grandfather Stan (Robert De Niro) as they navigate the boy's needs, while also dealing with various complications that don't have much to do with the kid but certainly make matters more difficult. Max, for example, is a struggling stand-up comedian, who can't separate his personal life from the gig in ways that lead to sets that sound more like confessionals than a tight five of jokes.

He's becoming obsessed with his son's condition, basically, out of fear that he isn't doing enough, determination that Ezra can and will live a "normal" life, and worry that his own genetics might have contributed to the boy's autism. After all, there's the particular manner of Max's father, who seems to hold grudges for too long and has sudden outbursts of anger and mostly lives a quiet life alone.

Max has some of that, too, especially after the school administration decides to expel Ezra for leading a march of his classmates out to the street. The officials there think a specialized school would be better for the boy, which Max won't believe, and when a doctor suggests putting Ezra on an anti-psychotic medication, the father has to be held back from punching the guy. Whatever's going on with Max and Stan, it's not exactly helping Ezra, which probably has more to do with why Max and Jenna are in the process of divorcing than anything else. The degree of patience and care Byrne brings to the role is admirable and, as soon as the actual plot of this tale begins, missed.

Because of the attempted assault, Max ends up with a restraining order, legally prohibiting him from being near his son. His response is to sneak into Jenna's house, take Ezra in the night, and start a road trip from New York City to Los Angeles, where he's scheduled to perform on a late-night talk show. Ignoring the fact of how completely irresponsible and counterproductive and generally unmotivated (The father sees his son as a good-luck charm and wants him there for the TV gig) this decision is for even a guy as desperate as Max, the choice restricts the material on a storytelling level. That's more damaging to its goals than any contrived act made by the main character.

Where is the material to go now? Well, it heads to L.A., literally, along highways, at various stops for breaks and to see some of Max's old friends, and with occasional detours, since Max is a fugitive from the law and perceived as a potential danger to the child. Suddenly, everything is framed as a race from facing consequences and against the clock, because Max needs to make some kind of breakthrough with Ezra before the trip ends, lest this little adventure be for nothing.

Admittedly, there's a sweetness to the father-son relationship, mainly because of the sincerity of Cannavale's performance and the honesty Fitzgerald brings to his role as the boy. The little moments of this road trip, such as Ezra's gritted teeth when he finally allows his father to hug him and the look of all-encompassing gratitude on Max's face when he realizes that's the case, have an emotional impact here.

It's manipulative, to be sure, since every step of this journey—including two stops to see a couple of old friends played by Vera Farmiga and Rainn Wilson—is coordinated for those payoffs to happen. It certainly doesn't help that Jenna and Stan are on their own trek to catch up with the two, particularly since that's more to bring about a heart-to-heart between Max and his own father (not to mention a climax that really, really makes Max's plan seem pointless). Still, those intimate moments of growth and realization work to some degree.

It's too bad, then, that the movie surrounding them takes such a predictable, contrived, and, oftentimes, poorly considered path. Ezra has its heart in the right place, but the rest of this story goes everywhere and anywhere to avoid the story it begins telling.

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