House of Cards

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, credible story; fantastic child actor!
Review: Autism, trauma, emotional wounds and our desperate attempts to struggle through to healing are the focus of this tremendous film. The one negative review picked nits and technique, entirely missing the tenuousness of the mother/child relationship when stressed, and of the mother's and the child's fierce desire to cement a better relationship, while also saying "Goodbye" to the pain of the Father's loss. The concept of mind-to-mind communication between parent and child is so old and so basic, and yet is refreshingly displayed here without bells and whistles and trappings that might render it unbelievable. This film is magic in what it shows and in the powerful feelings it evokes. FIVE big stars.!

Rating:
Summary: What happened here?
Review: Could someone please explain how Kathleen Turner was able to cure her daughter's autism & Tommy Lee Jones was unable to? Did Kathleen become magical while in Central America? How did Kathleen's daughter crossover from autism to reality? All I watched was a little girl climb a wooden board structure in the backyard look up at the moon and say goodbye. Was saying goodbye to the moon the cure? As a computer consultant, this movie demonstrated the most unrealistic use of a computer, a scanner, and virtual reality ever. What is next? Should Kathleen become a Doctor for autism, should Tommy Lee Jones become her student? What happens to the structure in the backyard? Perhaps the plot is really the daughter taking a drug in Central America and having a long hallucinogenic journey which happened to finally dissolve while standing on top of the wooden structure while staring at the moon. I guess the daughter said goodbye to the long hallucinogenic adventure. This flm is clearly open for interpretation. Good grief, a young girl takes a drug, stays high somewhat longer than normal due to the depression of her father's passing and it is confused with autism by a doctor and a court of law.

Rating:
Summary: What happened here?
Review: Could someone please explain how Kathleen Turner was able to cure her daughter's autism & Tommy Lee Jones was unable to? Did Kathleen become magical while in Central America? How did Kathleen's daughter crossover from autism to reality? All I watched was a little girl climb a wooden board structure in the backyard look up at the moon and say goodbye. Was saying goodbye to the moon the cure? As a computer consultant, this movie demonstrated the most unrealistic use of a computer, a scanner, and virtual reality ever. What is next? Should Kathleen become a Doctor for autism, should Tommy Lee Jones become her student? What happens to the structure in the backyard? Perhaps the plot is really the daughter taking a drug in Central America and having a long hallucinogenic journey which happened to finally dissolve while standing on top of the wooden structure while staring at the moon. I guess the daughter said goodbye to the long hallucinogenic adventure. This flm is clearly open for interpretation. Good grief, a young girl takes a drug, stays high somewhat longer than normal due to the depression of her father's passing and it is confused with autism by a doctor and a court of law.

Rating:
Summary: LOOKING FOR COPY TO BUY...IF ANYONE KNOWS WHERE
Review: Deal Amazon shoppers, my name is Alicia and just recently i have enjoyed the pleasure of ordering online feeling secure about my purchases. As you may know from my title, I am in the process of looking for an availiable copy of House of Cards with Tommy Lee Jones. I have scalled all across Ontario for such product and have had no liuck.. I can't even find a copy to rent...Montreal was the cloest and me being from Niagara Falls i don't see that as any use.
I know that this is spose to be used for giving reviews and i don't even know how often people actually read these things but i'm hopeing that some one out there can help me out.
My email address is [e-mail] and i thank you for you time
It's been about 8 years since i saw the movie, but it just happens to be one of the movies that stick in your head. I can only remeber clips of it but i know that it was good consedering i want to see it again 8 years later
If you are finish reading my novel and think you can help me out please contact me
Thanks and have a safe Holiday

Rating:
Summary: Not exceptional, but Good
Review: I have seen this movie several times, many of which were when I was still an adolescent. I have always enjoyed it. However I have found that the reviews of this movie on this site may not be accurate. Now I do not know much about autism, very little in fact, but I am sure that the filmmakers were sure that the little girl was NOT autistic. The little girl had a temporary break with reality, that was the point. I got angry several times in the movie that the mother was so resilient to treatment when the girl needed it, but it wasn't for autism. It may have looked like it, but it wasn't. As one reviewer said, if it was autism, it would have presented itself in her earlier than age 6. The theme of the movie was mysticism and a break with reality and all in all the movie did a good job with it. I recommend it for a pleasant viewing

Rating:
Summary: Autism has no overnight cure, although I wish it did!
Review: I must agree with a previous reviewer, as I am also a parent of an autistic child, my daughter is four years old. The movie does portray many common autistic tendencies, especially similar to my daughter. Also the characters did a wonderful job, I really did enjoy the movie. I think the hardest part was at the end seeing their joy of a "cure", which is only in Hollywood. Yes progress can be made, we have had much success, but it is very hard work, patience and time involved with see it.

The actress that played Sally did a wonderful job, and it was almost eerie that she and my daughter could be twins, you would definitely do a double-take.
I also agree that this movie could give parent false hope, and possible delay treatment that is so needed in these cases. I know how it is to be a parent in denial, but the sooner reality is faced the better it is for your autistic child. Kathleen Turner and Tommy Lee Jones, and all the cast did a tremendous job. As a parent trying to get a hold of anything to learn more about autism, I only wish they could have possibly showed another side of coping besides a "cure".

Rating:
Summary: Autism has no overnight cure, although I wish it did!
Review: I must agree with a previous reviewer, as I am also a parent of an autistic child, my daughter is four years old. The movie does portray many common autistic tendencies, especially similar to my daughter. Also the characters did a wonderful job, I really did enjoy the movie. I think the hardest part was at the end seeing their joy of a "cure", which is only in Hollywood. Yes progress can be made, we have had much success, but it is very hard work, patience and time involved with see it.

The actress that played Sally did a wonderful job, and it was almost eerie that she and my daughter could be twins, you would definitely do a double-take.
I also agree that this movie could give parent false hope, and possible delay treatment that is so needed in these cases. I know how it is to be a parent in denial, but the sooner reality is faced the better it is for your autistic child. Kathleen Turner and Tommy Lee Jones, and all the cast did a tremendous job. As a parent trying to get a hold of anything to learn more about autism, I only wish they could have possibly showed another side of coping besides a "cure".

Rating:
Summary: The House of Cards fell down quickly
Review: I was confused from the start with House of Cards. Kathleen Turner stars as the widowed parent Ruth Matthews to six year-old Sally and her older brother Michael. They are somewhere in Mexico preparing to return home to North Carolina after a three year absence.

The father, Alex died while they were in Mexico while on an archealogical dig of Mayan ruins. They stayed awhile longer in Mexico after the accident that Ruth had witnessed. I did not connect with the child actress Asha Menina and felt the child was a bit off before they even arrived back in the States. The viewer was aware of her inner thoughts through her whisperings in her mind and she spoke to three weird looking dolls that were spooky. The times that House of Cards ventured into these eerie scenes reminded me of a young Sissie Spacek in Carrie, and I did not want the movie to turn in that direction.

The story was interesting, but failed on so many levels and left viewer not sure what was reality and fantasy and why autism was even suggested. Although the subject was of interest to me, this did contain poor casting choices and not enough character development.

There was such limited information concerning the father and his death and no family discussions about memories. This is where development lacked and could have been explored further. I could not even form an opinion on the father since flashbacks only showed a flashlight and legs falling down.

Ruth had a fear of heights, but it was not explained what led to this. She also did not want Sally and Michael to cry over the death of their father. I think the reason why I was not drawn to the character of Sally is the way she was presented. It was mentioned that she knew three languages, and you heard her muttering to herself in these, but they did not portray her favorably before she withdrew into herself once they were back home.

The next adult we meet is a neighbor played by Park Overall, the only perfectly suited actor in a role in House of Cards. I would have rather seen the mother portrayed by one of the actresses who starred in Designing Women, because Kathleen Turner's accent just bugs me too much.

Their house was very large with a lot of land and we only ever saw the kitchen and Sally's bedroom along with the porch. It made no sense for Sally to be sleeping in the attic with access to a window, especially after several incidents where she got out and climbed on the roof.

The first few scenes upon their arrival back home showed Sally in this crouching position, she resembled a china doll when was picked up and returned to the same form. I thought it was very weird until they showed her mother in the same position a few times. Nothing really made sense in House of Cards and many loose ends were left hanging for this viewer.

I felt the scenes where they showed students working at the school with therapists was decent, although they did push in the wrong direction when trying to get an echolaic child to ask for water, when clearly the child wanted to drink. I do not agree with the concept of withholding something from a child when they cannot communicate that need.

I did choose to view House of Cards because of the mention of autistic traits, and glad that the cover of the video did not mention autism since that was not the basis of the character or show. The parent/child bond lacked structure, was hard to follow that a child missed a parent so much when there were no flashbacks hinting to a relationship.

Rating:
Summary: An unfortunate movie about a serious subject
Review: Is the little girl portrayed in this movie autistic, or isn't she?

This is an important question to me as the father of an autistic child, because the entire middle of the movie contains one of the more detailed and realistic portrayals of childhood autism that I have seen. There are some lapses, to be sure, but the writers and producers clearly had autism in mind.

This movie was made (1993) in an era when autism was much less well understood than it is now. At that time, autism was considered such a terrible diagnosis that some doctors preferred to make milder-sounded diagnoses such as "PDD." It is impressive that the professionals portrayed appear to be attempting to practice something resembling the Applied Behavorial Analysis methods which have since been proven the prime effective therapy for the disorder.

Yet the movie then protrays a mother who resists professional help not on the basis of reasoned disagreement with a course of therapy, but denial that her daughter has a disorder at all, an attitude that can never work to the benefit of a child with a disability.

Having presented a realistic portrayal of autism, the movie does a disservice to parents who are struggling with the realities of this disorder. First, it portrays a girl who suddenly displays profound features of autism at the age of 6. At the end, it portrays a complete miracle cure, validating the mother's stubborn resistance.

Neither of these events occurs with autism. Autism almost always presents before the age or 2 when a child who seemed to be progressing normally begins to regress. And, except in our dreams, remission occurs only with long, hard and knowledgeable work.

I suppose one could say "they never actually *said* she was autistic. It must have been some traumatic disorder that *seemed* like autism." Then why did they go out of their way to use autism as a dramatic device?

My fear is that a parent facing the reality of a newly-recognized autistic child might use this movie as support to resist the therapy their loved one desperately needs. Good, even wonderful. outcomes are now possible for autism, but not through Hollywood mysticism.

Rating:
Summary: A mothers love...
Review: Kathleen Turner is wonderful as a mother trying to do the best she can to help her withdrawn daughter. Tommy Lee Jones is a 20 yr. veteran of traditional child psychology trying to help her daughter the best way he knows how and not alienate the mother in the process. Mom has some very untraditional ideas of how to reach the girl and in the end both come to respect, if not understand, each others views. Strong performances from all characters and a good story line that is quick and never boring.