There are some reviewers who will never award a 10 under the premise it is theoretically unattainable or lessens their credibility as a true auteur and critic of the filmmakers art. When I worked for MGM and the "Rain Man" campaign, I already had written hundreds of synopsis on the back of video boxes, including all the historic landmark films I studied in film school. It hurts to know this film is not nominated for a Best Picture Oscar nor Danes for Best Actress, for which I believe she would and should win -- the acting demands of her performance exceeding Dustin Hoffman's in "Rain Man." She had more emotional and intellectual notes to play and she played them to perfection. As for the film, it touches on the subject of life and death, not only for animals but humans as well in a searingly raw and truthful way, much as my own mother, suffering from dementia at her deathbed asked me, "After I die, then what?" Dane's performance reminded me of Patty Duke's in "Miracle Worker" in which the entire performance transcended the craft into pure belief. Acting is believing and you don't for a microsecond believe she is acting. As did her character Temple Grandin, Danes has "walked through another door into a whole new world" as an actress.
Review of Temple Grandin
