NEW YORK MOVIE JOURNAL (Mar. 1-Apr. 2, 2018)

[Chris Knipp]

KEEP THE CHANGE (Rachel Israel 2017). In this heartwarming, but icky, Jewish and New York rom-com the autistic couple, David (Brandon Polansky) and Sarah (Samantha Elisofon), who meet at a JCC autism support group, and the other group members, are played by actual autistic people. How embarrassing and inappropriate actual autistic people can be in ordinary settings may never have been so vividly and accurately shown in a feature film. The story is hopeful. The difficulty isn't so much the couple's behavioral issues - they find love and it seems to point toward a fuller life - as David's stuffy and disapproving rich parents, played by acting pros Jessica Walter and Tibor Feldman. Glenn Kenny heralded this as a "landmark motion picture" and made it a "NYT Critics Pick"; and it won multiple awards at Tribeca, but Kenny admits it's not "seamlessly crafted" - and should admit his wish that it should be "widely seen" is unrealistic. Perhaps it should be widely seen by autistic people and their families or concerned professionals. Its realness is frequently a turnoff. Making it however was a shrewd move by RISD film prof Israel. Watched on a screener 25 Mar. 2018, showing at Quad Cinema. Metascore 72%.