God's Ears

The best lap-dancer in town, Alexia, leads a self-contained but perhaps rather lonely life until in remarkably quick succession she meets, befriends, and falls in love with a handsome young autistic man, Noah. Everything goes gently and sweetly until for no apparent reason she decides she doesn’t want to let any close to her after all. But don’t worry, it all turns out fine, for this is a film about how the strength and courage of the mentally disabled can be an inspiration to us all; it is also a film that will cheerfully frame the first word of the “Live Nude Girls” sign outside Lexy’s club to provide her with hope in her moment of doubt; and one in which it will gradually be revealed that Noah possesses an impressively and improbably sculpted torso.

As it happens, though, he shadow boxes in his room, and sweeps up at John Saxon’s gym, the latter present to embody the warning regret of missed opportunity, and to roll out the life lessons (the ring is like a tabernacle, didn't you know?). The film is carried by the central performances: Margot Farley as Lexy mostly just has to look bright-eyed or soulful, which she does very well, and has a nice rapport with her fellow dancers; but writer/director Mark Worth is remarkably effective as Noah, detailed and admirably restrained, and his rapport is at its best with his autistic uncle Steve (a similarly well-modulated Tim Thomerson). All of which almost makes up for the banal and obvious music, the Reader’s Digest philosophising, and the fact that it’s a good twenty minutes too long.

d/sc Michael Worth p Kassi Crews ph Neil Lisk pd Francis Titsworth m Corey A. Jackson cast Margot Farley, Michael Worth, John Saxon, Mitzi Kapture, Tim Thomerson, David Jean Thomas, Dominic Daniel
(1008, USA, 117m)