Molly (1998)

Director: John Duigan

Cast: Elisabeth Shue, Aaron Eckhart, Jill Hennessy

Synopsis: A bachelor becomes the unwilling guardian of his autistic, intellectually disabled sister; then an experimental treatment works a dramatic change in her brain and his attitude.

The movie Molly is just plain daft; a patchy mix of “heartwarming” (i.e. cloyingly sentimental) bonding scenes between cured autistic woman Elisabeth Shue (Back to the Future, Piranha 3D) and her initially selfish brother Aaron Eckhart (Nurse Betty, The Dark Knight), poor editing that seems to dispense with whole chunks of plot (after hastily explained and supremely daft ‘ground-breaking’ neurosurgery, Shue’s regression, once it finally begins, is complete within a couple of scenes), and stultifying cliches. Failing completely to engender any emotional involvement in Molly’s predicament, which could have been heartbreaking if skilfully handled, the movie shamelessly strives to manipulate the viewer in almost every scene. Shue’s performance is ok, and Eckhart offers solid support, but they’re both let down by the material, and before the movie is half over you’ll be wondering why they ever made the wretched thing in the first place.
(Reviewed 6th March 2002)