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From the title one might think this might be a SOUTH PARK parody, but it’s really a sobering and thoughtful look at children with autism and the difficulties they and their parents face. We see the wide range of ways the disorder affects various children; some are highly functional and others are barely verbal. Over the course of the documentary a group of autistic kids prepare for the Miracle Project musical in Los Angeles. We get to know the autistic kids as individuals, not just as a problem that needs to be fixed.

Elaine Hall is a single mom of an autistic tween named Neal, who she adopted from Russia. Nicknamed Coach E, she runs the Miracle Project. Her blonde-haired son is the most afflicted of the main children profiled. Barely able to speak his name, Neal is trapped inside a world of his own. On the flip side, the freckle-faced Wyatt is the most functional of the group, understanding his problems and struggling with his need to go to special ed classes with mentally handicapped kids and his understanding that he might not be able to make it in mainstream schools.

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Paul Thomas Anderson (r) directs Daniel Day-Lewis on the set of There Will Be Blood.

With Paul Thomas Anderson’s fifth film, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, arriving on DVD this week, it seems like a perfect time to celebrate his impressive body of work. In five outings he has delivered five great films — three of which are brilliant. Often working with the same actors, Anderson tells epic stories that touch on the complexity of family and life in general. In just over a decade, he has established himself as one of the premiere directors working today, having made more than one modern classic.

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