39 Pounds of Love

When you see the plot summary for "39 Pounds of Love," you quickly make up your mind that it's sure to be A. uncomfortable, B. a "freak show," C. a tear-jerker, D. something maudlin, and E. a film to avoid. Those elements are all there, except for the last one. It's tough-to-watch, freakish, occasionally mushy, but it is also a worthwhile movie, one that will stay with you for a long time.

Dani Menkin's documentary is about Texas-born Israeli-Mexican Ami Ankilewitz, who was given six years to live at birth because of muscular dystrophy, which went on quickly to ravage his body while a toddler. At 34, weighing 39 pounds, and able to move only one finger (which he uses to create animated films), Ankilewitz embarks on a voyage across the US to face the doctor, who made that early diagnosis.

Part real-time footage, part recreation (not always successful, especially in the final sequence, with the elderly Cuban doctor looking uncomfortable with the recreation of their confrontation), "39 Pounds" somehow manages to go beyond being a documentary with a message. Ankilewitz's aspiration to "normal love" will resonate with anyone ever involved in a hopeless affair, and the film maintains its integrity by telling the truth.