Miracle Run.........on My Lifetime

Cast

* Mary-Louise Parker as Corrine Morgan-Thomas
* Aidan Quinn as Douglas Thomas
* Zac Efron as Steven Thomas
* Bubba Lewis as Phillip Thomas
* Alicia Morton as Jennifer Michaels
* Jake Cherry as Young Steven Thomas
* Jeremy Shada as Young Phillip Thomas

Not sure if anyone has seen this movie before or not. I think it actually came out in 2004. BUT My Lifetime channel on cable is airing the movie. It was on last night and will be on again today Eastern time from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. If you would really like to see a movie about autism in children and then young adults......I would watch it. I tried to stay up last night to see the entire movie but fell asleep and missed the last hour or so. I will have to watch it again today which I WILL because what I saw was a really good movie.....and did show what it can be like trying to raise a child or 2 with autism. Some classic characteristics are portrayed pretty well I felt and it is based on a true story. Here is a synopsis:

In a flashback, a single mother, Corrine Morgan-Thomas (Mary-Louise Parker) drives her five year old twin boys Steven (Zac Efron) and Phillip (Bubba Lewis) to the doctor's office and learns that they are autistic. Phillip simply repeats what he hears others say, while Steven is completely nonverbal. After leaving the clinic in a very upset mood, she takes the boys shopping for groceries. Her visit to the supermarket is not a pleasant one, as her two boys begin screaming throughout the store and Phillip wets himself, causing others to stare at them. Upon learning about their disability, her live in boyfriend leaves because he knows raising special needs twins will be difficult.

Corrine then moves with her boys to another town and enrolls them in a public school. Their classmates are puzzled by their strange behavior, as well as their teachers. Corrine is then told at a meeting by the principal as well as several psychiatrists that they are not fit for public school, and that they will be sent to a special school. The local mental? hospital then sends a learning therapist to their house in order to teach the boys basic language skills and prepare them for normal society.

With his help and support, Phillip's vocabulary expands, and Steven says his very first word, "pizza". After he is done with teaching the boys, the psychiatrist moves to another city to work with other families (ONLY because FUNDING was cut off). Over the course of several years, the boys flourish verbally, socially, and academically.

However, some of their autistic characteristics still remain, as they have somewhat nasal, robot-like voices, engage in self-injurious habits, and are very sensitive to loud and sudden noises. They also have an obsession with Rocky from the Rocky films. On their first day of high school, Steven develops a crush on a girl named Jennifer (Alicia Morton). While chatting with Phillip in the bathroom, Steven talks about Jeniffer and says "Maybe she'll be my girlfriend." Another boy, an older boy with long hair mocks Steven and pushes him, causing both of them to start screaming and crying. Corrine is called to the school from work by their special ed teacher, and convinces the boys to come out of the bathroom and go to lunch.

At lunch, Jennifer decides to sit with the two boys. Steven sees several joggers outside from the hallway and decides to join the cross country team. Before the race, Steven sees Jennifer kiss another guy, an Asian boy with a Mohawk. Steven is hurt and confused. Corinne finds Steven sitting down on the grass looking sad, and she finds a love poem in his hands that Steven wrote for Jennifer. Then, Steven realizes he has to move on. He wins the first race he runs in and Phillip gets into a special music school by playing his newfound guitar talent over the phone. Corrine then finds The Miracle Run Foundation for research into autism. Steven gives a speech about how his mother helped him and his brother with their autism.


OKAY I changed the parts in the above where they called the kids MENTALLY ILL and the hospital they said was a MENTAL hospital where a PSYCHIATRIST was sent out to work with the boys. I think they got that wrong as we know autism does not automatically equate mental illness at all and if I remember correctly the therapist was not from a mental hospital or a psychiatrist.

Anyway.....the movie was actually pretty decent and I felt it portrayed some common characteristics of kids with autism very well. AND some of the experiences the mother experienced, also pretty common, were also very well portrayed. So you might want to give it a watch today if you have the channel and can see it.



AND actually if you do not have My Lifetime....you can apparently see the entire movie right now on YOU TUBE...... starting at this link and then start with Miracle Run PART ONE...there are 9 parts to see the entire movie....but it is worth it.

Miracle Run on You Tube

here is a trailer from a fan



Here is what the twins look like now:




For more information on the Miracle Run Foundation please go here:

Miracle Run Foundation Info