The Horse Boy

Turns into a lyrical and stirring meditation on the mystery of autism.

It is an inspiring, well-assembled portrait of one man's love for his autistic 6-year-old son and the measures he's willing to go to help the boy -- and the family -- cope with his neurological challenges.

The whole enterprise seems to be Isaacson's project. He narrates the film. Kristin, his wife, seems fully in accord with him, and they're both courageous, but I would have liked more insights from the side of her that teaches psychology.

For both the parents and the filmmakers, the journey of The Horse Boy was tough and utterly unpredictable, but their act of faith has produced a film that's surprisingly upbeat, evenhanded and imbued with wonder.

Raises more questions than it can answer in its travelogue format. It's because the premise is so intriguing and the drama is so compelling that the result is so confounding.

Well-meaning but trying documentary.

The film reveals its true colors at the end, with a plug for the New Age dude ranch the entrepreneurial couple has since established in Texas.