'Life, Animated' - Movie Review

The movie is about Owen Suskind and his family. Owen has been somewhat famous in the last year (probably because of the movie, although I'm not entirely sure): he's autistic, and uses Disney movies as a way to deal with the world. The movie is based on Owen's father Ron's book Life, Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes, and Autism. The movie is very well constructed, taking an even-handed view of both Owen's and his family's struggles and triumphs. We see Owen from very early in his life, his regression around the age of three when autism set in, through to his graduation from a class preparing him to live alone at the age of 23. We see a lot of his family - his parents, and his brother Walt. There are even appearances by Gilbert Gottfried and Jonathan Freeman, the voices of Iago and Jafar from "Aladdin." I was left wondering (but reasonably hopeful) if Owen was going to manage on his own.