rushingj@swbell.net

I'm a parent of a child with high-functioning autism, and while my child's condition isn't nearly as severe as Ms. Grandin's, I was touched and awed by the portrayal in the film on a deeply personal level and as a fan of film.

Not once during the entire film was I able to sit back and say, unequivocally, that's Claire Danes on the screen. Not once, because that was not Claire Danes - it was Temple Grandin, or at the very least what we saw on the screen was %99.999 the character brought to life with an unbelievably immersive portrayal of Ms. Grandin by Ms. Danes.

I've seen those looks, those pensive stares filled with wonder and awe and fear but on a level so completely foreign to those of us who do not have autism. There were moments in this film I was looking right into my child's eyes through that screen.

Ms. Danes is an extraordinary talent, and while I've watched many of her films with interest, I will make it a point to see those I have not yet seen, and will watch with renewed interest and intensity those I have already seen.

Wow...seriously, that's about all I can say about her performance - Wow.

1) A shrill, ridiculous female counterpart.

2) A main plot device that connects not at all with the primary viewing audience (the mystical stones).

3) A main story setting that...(see 2).

4) An 'over-the-top' mark that exceeds even the most ridiculous mid-century b-movies.

5) Her again...(so bad she deserves a second mention)

The other three movies had a main plot device that registers with most Americans and a good part of the Western world.

There was nothing in this movie, other than Indy, with which I connected - and short of the opening sequence which had Capshaw doing (in the proper setting) what she manages to do the rest of the movie, I really did not connect with the story or with Indy in this setting and on this adventure at all.

I'd venture a guess that the reason the 4th film is panned so much in Europe and other non-US countries has to do with its quintessential American tie-in from that era...Roswell Aliens - something which other nations have certainly heard of but which Americans, most of all, seem to have been obsessed with (either believing it or ardently arguing against it) over the last 60 years.

Bring on an Indy 5 - but dear Lord, please pick a story that Americans and hopefully a good portion of the West (the primary moviegoers for Spielberg/Lucas films) can actually get invested in - mystical stones just doesn't cut it.

And no more shrill damsels who can't shut up long enough not to risk the lives of everyone they are traveling with every 5 minutes.