Imitation Jonathan Kellerman murder mystery (original screenplay by Akiva Goldsman), with a child psychologist as the detective (Richard Dreyfuss, short enough to empathize fully with his patients) and an autistic eight-year-old as the witness to the crime. It's not a kind of detection the mystery fan can take much part in: we just sit back, soak up little sermonettes on autism ("Nobody knows -- nobody knows -- what autism is"), behold little breakthroughs, and wait for the little boy (who never speaks in his own voice but performs note-perfect impressions of those around him: dubbed, of course) to re-enact the night of the murder. The obviousness of the outcome does not justify the wait. Directed by Bruce Beresford. (1994) — Duncan Shepherd
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