Written by Temple Grandin Directed by Mick Jackson Starring Clare Danes

Temple Grandin I don’t normally review films that are made for television, but there’s a new HBO film that just insists on being recognized – in theatres, on television, on your cell phone, or even in the palm of your hand. It’s called “Temple Grandin,” and it’s of course about the autistic – I guess we now say ‘autistic spectrum’ phenomenon, Temple Grandin. She’s the one who got herself a Ph.D. in animal husbandry, and who invented a whole new way to lead cattle to the slaughterhouse. Why is that not weird? Because, unless you’re a vegetarian and don’t want to hear any more, under the old way of leading the cattle, a certain percentage of them would break a leg, drown in the dipping tank, or suffer some other trauma, which at the least would cost the slaughterhouse money and time, and when you think how many cattle are slaughtered in the United States each year, that adds up to the difference between profit and loss. So the movie “Temple Grandin” takes us from her adolescence through to her graduation from college and a bit beyond. And what’s more it has a performance by Claire Danes that’s one of the greatest, bravest, most courageous performances I can recall seeing anywhere. Home