Temple Grandin

"My name's Temple Grandin. I'm not like other people. I think in pictures, then connect them." So begins the HBO biopic "Temple Grandin," with Claire Danes announcing herself as the titular character—her shouty, unselfconscious voice reinforcing her "not like other people" status. Grandin, we soon learn, was diagnosed with autism back when doctors offered such news with a cigarette and the name of a nearby institution. But Grandin's mother was not the institutionalizing type and instead devoted herself to molding her daughter into a productive member of society. Mission accomplished. Grandin would eventually become a celebrity in an obscure corner of the world: professional livestock handling. She would design a humane system for slaughterhouses through which almost half the cattle in North America now shuffle on their way to our grills. She holds a Ph.D. in animal sciences, teaches at Colorado State University, and has written two New York Times bestsellers. She is inspirational TV-movie gold.

Director Mick Jackson is an old pro at such films, having directed the weepy standard by which they are all measured, "Tuesdays With Morrie." But his "Temple Grandin," shot from a teleplay by Christopher Monger and William Merritt Johnson, is far from mere fluff. It makes a genuine effort to be more inventive than the average biopic, using snapshotlike imagery to give the viewer an idea of how Grandin processes information and showcasing the sound design to convey the oppressive effect common noises can have on her thoughts.

In these moments, as in most of the film, so much rests on Danes' shoulders. She bears the load well, having clearly done her autism research. But more important, she has worked to turn Grandin into a fully realized character, one who becomes more alive onscreen the more time we spend with her. She is not easy to love at first, but Danes resists the temptation to turn Grandin's tics into adorable affectations or be generally showy, instead striving to grind out a consistent performance. The patient approach yields rewards.

Fine actors round out the cast—among them David Strathairn, Catherine O'Hara, and Julia Ormond—but they're just along for the ride. The film is about Danes and Jackson making smart choices, refusing to give in to temptation and compose a tearjerker out of notes too familiar-sounding.


Genre: Drama
Written by: Christopher Monger and William Merritt Johnson
Directed by Mick Jackson
Starring: Claire Danes, David Strathairn, Catherine O'Hara, Julia Ormond
Premieres: Feb. 6, HBO