User reviews

"Yet another inaccurate and stupidly exaggerated feelgood movie about a person who is a bit into the spectrum" or so I thought to myself when I first heard about this movie. But in all honesty, Jane Wants a Boyfriend is something of a fresh breeze compared to all the other movies that have been made about people on the spectrum (Rainman not included - it's in a category by itself).

The movie isn't flawless. Many parts of the movie and the main character felt phony, emotionally implausible and just not right. Especially the first 15 minutes or so of the movie. Maybe they took these shots first and it took a while for Krause to sink into her role? I don't know, but overall I think she did a pretty good job with Jane. Like the other movies on this topic though it is (sadly) rather patronizing and paternalistic - although not to the same extent as all the other movies such as the "There is no feelings in space" - which I really disliked because of extreme inaccuracies.

But, Jane Wants a Boyfriend also does a lot of things right. Being a man diagnosed with Asperger's disorder myself makes it easier for me to identify with the characters in these kind of movies. I've seen and I've met a few people with autism and I think it's hard for "neurotypicals" to understand that this is disorder and not a personality! Some very accurate stuff in this movie includes: - Jane's facial expressions, body language, problems with tone of voice and lack of eye contact, etc. -Her preoccupation and high skills within a narrow range of interests. -Sensory over stimulation. -Social problems: Jane doesn't like crowds, parties, she has problems initiating social contact, problems with social chit chat and doesn't appear to have that many deep connections (relationships) other than to her immediate family.

To sum things up: If you are after a romantic feelgood movie that touches on the subject of the social issues involved for someone on the autistic spectrum, then I would recommend this movie actually. It's decent! Actually it's a bit more than decent: it's good - but it could've been better! But if you are after a 100% accurate depiction of a true aspie character and their experiences with dating - keep looking!

Whatever you do stick with this film past the first 15 minutes or so, you will be rewarded it is a delight. We have a son With Aspergers and this film captures both the worst and the best aspects of living with the syndrome for both the individual and their family and the lack of neurotypical understanding. Please ignore the characters of the parents whilst the film may be based around true events they didn't work for me. However Louisa Krause does a really good job with the character of Jane and Eliza Dushku, the love, anguish and helplessness of the older sister Bianca. I found the film pulls you in as it moves along and it surprised, delighted and moved me.

This wonderful little movie tells a marvelous story of a young girl 'Jane' suffering with Asperger syndrome and how her sister, who is often overly protective of Jane, yet a source of comfort for Jane. Jane meets an unattached man who is mostly directionless and he finds an intellectual and emotional connection in Jane.

Janes sister 'Bianca' works as a bartender, is practicing for a part in "A Midsummers Nights Dream" in local theatre, and tries her best to be patient and helpful with her sister Jane. Jane both appreciates and resents this! Janes wants a private life but her condition overshadows this desire.

What follows this scenario is a story of love, frustration, anger, and contentment. This is not a profound story and I think Director: William Sullivan and Writer: Jarret Kerr kept it like this because I believe the audience needed to find a connection with Jane - the person - and not Jane - the person with Asperger syndrome. This is also a lesson Bianca learns the hard way by setting her sister up on a date that doesn't go well.

This is a sure fire first class movie for people seeking, not drama, but a simple look at life as it can be.

Jane Wants A Boyfriend, catalogued as a comedy/drama/romance, is a touching movie, even for those who never encountered an autist in real life. I wouldn't describe it as a comedy though, well at least I didn't laugh once, but it certainly got some emotions going, more teardrops than laughter though. The acting was good, from all of them. It isn't a big budget movie, and it doesn't need to be, as the story is simple but effective, everybody has the right to love or to be loved, no matter how different you are. Normally not the kind of movie I would go for but I'm glad I watched it.

Warm, endearing, inspiring are what I came away with. This was a wonderful story showing that persons with difficulties can have a happy and fulfilling life. The parents in the film need a good kick up the backside. I felt the way the parents were shown was a bit over the top, and I would hope there were no parents of this type raising a child with this type of difficulty. The elder sister is a better parent. The acting is very good. I very much enjoyed the way the story played out with the exception of the parents. The ending was a little abrupt, and could have gone a little farther. Overall, this film is heartwarming and well worth the cost of a ticket.

'JANE WANTS A BOYFRIEND': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A romantic comedy, about a young woman with Asperger's syndrome; that's trying to find her first boyfriend (with the help of her overprotective older sister). The film was directed by William Sullivan, and it was written by Jarret Kerr; the two also teamed up (performing the same duties) for the 2012 feature 'PERCIVAL'S BIG NIGHT', and the 2012 short film 'COMEDIENNE'. This movie stars Louisa Krause, Eliza Dushku, Gabriel Ebert and Amir Arison. I really enjoyed it.

Jane (Krause) is a young woman, with Asperger's syndrome, who lives with her parents (in Queens, New York); she's also never had a boyfriend. Bianca (Dushku) is her overprotective older sister; who's now moving to Brooklyn with her fiancé, Rob (Arison). Jane's parents are moving away, and they want Jane to move in with Bianca. Bianca and Rob aren't sure if they're ready for that kind of responsibility though, and to top it off Jane decides she wants her first boyfriend. Bianca's friend, Jack (Ebert), is quite interested in Jane, but Bianca is afraid he won't treat her right; due to his past womanizing ways.

The movie's subject interests me, because I have multiple friends that have told me they think I have Asperger's. I'm quite certain I don't (especially after watching this movie), but I could still really relate to the lead character. I do have some similar social issues (and anxiety problems), and people around me often don't respect my individuality. I also have romantic troubles; but still my issues are quite different than Jane's (and similar at the same time). I still love the movie though, because I think it is inspiring (and very emotional); because of these themes. I think it's beautifully acted, written and directed. It's quite a moving film, especially for anyone who feels different!

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I have access to online movies via Kanopy through my public library. I was looking for something to pass the time away during this quarantine period and decided to give this one a try. I wasn't expecting much.

However what I found is a really nice movie about a 20-something young lady in New York with Aspergers. She is Jane, played by Louisa Krause in a way that reminded me of Claire Danes playing Temple Grandin. Her older sister, a Broadway actress, is very protective of her but Jane is very determined to blaze her own way.

Looking up her filmography I now realize I have seen Louisa Krause in a number of different movies but in non-memorable roles. I will remember her for this one, she is really outstanding.

It's a cute enough movie, but I don't think they nailed the "aspy" personality AT ALL. These people behave like they have down syndrome. My son has Asperger's and I have friends with Asperger's so I have a pretty good idea of how people with Asperger's behave. This isn't it.

I really enjoyed this film. I feel that it was both well written and well acted. The writing and the acting share a common quality. The quality is lack of pretension. The writing deals with a real and increasingly common problem in an unpretentious way, and the acting does the same. Because of this, the film is engaging, endearing, and --most importantly-- moving. I learned from this film. I grew from this film, and, at the risk of being pretentious myself, I would say that I am a better person because of this film. It is indeed easy to lose touch with the normal emotional needs and abilities of people who are emotionally challenged. What hits me so hard is that this one problem can serve as powerful paradigm for all of the foolish insensitivity we may have to others because of our callous and simple-minded generalization and categorization of our fellow humans.

This is one of those awe-inspiring movies you just can't get enough of! After watching Barefoot for a thousand times, this seems just perfect.

The writing is just one of the other fantastic things of this movie. And hats off to Louisa Krause for attaining such a high level of acting. It seems so natural you just can't believe it. Every bit of this movie feels real. The anger, the curiosity & her sister's protectiveness all were perfectly blended into the script.

This movie gives a new perspective to people who aren't aware of such situations. This movie made me understand more about everything around me.

I don't know if the people who watched it would appreciate it as much as I do but this movie deserves to be released in every theatre in the world. I was disappointed it didn't release here in India.

Adorable. You can't help but feel SO happy for Jane. If a bit cheesy, this film definitely won in the cute department. Brought a tear to my eye. I found it very easy to relate to as someone that experiences social anxiety. They did a great job at vividly depicting Jane's point of view and internal experience. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone interested in the subject of autism or similar mental health disorders. It is so interesting to learn about how people with Asperger's process the world. The moral of the story is that trust is essential to finding happiness in an often unforgiving, misunderstanding world.

This is like the US version of 'Gabrielle'. About a young woman with Asperger syndrome, trying to date, despite mixed support from her family. This is a cool film. One of the best of its kind. Because this is not the first to explore on such theme. Yeah, they all kind of look the same, but in a different scenario with different syndromes that I even did not know its existence. An unusual romance-drama that focused on as what the director says, 'everyone is worthy of love'.

The Jane who has just turned 25, still living with her parents and overprotected by her sister. A big fan of classic romance films and now she decided to take control of her own life. Her interest in having a boyfriend is a good sign for her family, particularly her parents who are moving away. But her sister comes as a big obstacle, especially when she finally found someone interested in her. Which leads to fight back, and how her efforts pays off that comes in the remaining parts.

❝I've been so focused on the person you were that I wasn't seeing the person you've become.❞

An indie film, a crowd funded film. A wonderful screenplay and the direction. There were no blank spaces, they all filled with the fine events. Even I liked the pace and the length of the film. But I liked the casting very much. That's the best happened to it. The title role, Jane was awesomely played the actress. Like the saying 'every dog has its day', this was her spotlight and she shined like a rainbow on the summer. Her sister role as well by Eliza Dushku was great, so the remaining cast.

You know most of the story, but how it progresses on its own style was the key to its success. This is not just about Asperger syndrome, but like any family who have had a hard time letting it go after coming to realise their position. It was not exactly a romance film you would expect. Because romance was the least focused part, except the initiation for the rest film, which was built on that platform. With the influence of romance, the story takes off from there till the last.

One of the year's best and a must see independent film. The target audience is the families, but very much suitable for all ages. There's no way it could have been better. Only if some other filmmakers, film productions attempted it, they would have altered to their style of filmmaking. Otherwise the core of the theme remains the same. With the least known actors and the crew, this is not some film, but a fine film, an appreciable effort. This is an under-noticed film, as well as underrated. It needs your uplift, so don't turn it down.

8/10

I am a aspiring producer in film school and i love watching all sorts of films. I came across this film on t.v, I have to say a very good job done. The story is beautiful that sends a very positive and direct message to the audience. I was smiling all the way through and even teared up a bit. I loved the film and loved the message that was being portrayed, it was executed well and touches the heart.

"I am a spirit of no common rate. The summer still doth tend upon my state"

declares Titania to Bottom in Act III Scene 1 of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The gracious fairy queen has become a victim of a potion that has everybody falling in love with the wrong people. Her husband thought it would teach her a lesson for denying him. But after being dosed with the potion, she falls in love with Bottom (a commoner), who has been turned into a donkey. Love being blind, the joke is on her.

In the play within a play of "Jane Wants A Boyfriend" (2015), Titania is being played by a stressed out Bianca, the title character's older sister.

Shakespeare lets the audience share in his joke while viewers of "Jane Wants A Boyfriend" have to work a bit to figure it out. The joke being that Bianca's protectiveness toward her little sister is largely misplaced. Not only is it unnecessarily stressing out Bianca, it has become an obstacle to Jane's growth.

Jane has Aspergers, but processes a lot more than she is given credited for by Bianca. Childlike in many ways she is perceptive enough at age 25 to realize that her existence is becoming precarious, that her dependency on her parents cannot continue much longer. Accordingly, she is forcing herself to interact more with people. Guidance for this interaction is provided by watching old movies and observing people, mimicking their speech patterns and facial expressions. She refers to this as practicing.

Jack is the boyfriend that Jane wants. But like Titania's resentment of her husband's infidelities, Bianca disapproves of Jack's bed hopping and fear of commitment. She underestimates her little sister's off-kilter appeal and is afraid that any relationship she enters into with Jack will be brief.

Another parallel between the two stories is the unlikelihood of the match; the play's fairy queen loving a commoner becomes a neurotypical loving an Aspie. In "Dream" this is part of the joke, in "Jane" it is in large part the reason I embraced the film.

I like this film better than anything over the past couple of years. The ensemble casting and scripting was excellent, the acting-for-the-camera direction as good as you will find, the pacing perfect, and the editing solid. I especially like the scene transitions where the audio tracks begin a second before the new video track cuts in. The best of these when the film's title is said by Bianca over Jane's face and then later when the cheers and applause of the theater audience plays over the kiss.

The film is full of tiny touches that you barely notice during the first viewing, like when Bianca thanks the janitor for not running the sweeper while she was talking to Jane. They go out on Bianca and not the title character. With that you realize that this is actually Bianca's story, that she is the character who changed during the course of the narrative. And with this you suddenly realize that Dushku's underplayed performance is every bit as good as that of Krause, something quite unexpected as she is rarely asked to do something this restrained.

And be sure to watch the entire credit sequence because additional lines from the play are featured along with a several black and white sequences.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Jane (Louisa Krouse) is a young woman with Aspergers syndrome who very much wants to find her first date with the help of her older sister Bianca (Eliza Dushku). Just a film that feels so natural and kind-hearted you can't help but feel warm and fuzzy after watching! Everyone's performances are great from Louisa Krouse's outstanding role as Jane through to Gabriel Ebert as love interest Jack. Each character is given a good amount of time on screen; fully fleshed by the cast and writer Jarret Kerr. I really cared about what was going to happen to Jane, Bianca and Jack and it was a thoroughly engaging, feel-good and also informative watch on the subject of autism that I think will feel very familiar and relatable to those with the condition and relatives of the person

If you are looking for a heart warming film, that's honest, different and interesting with no unlikeable characters, this is it. I'm not a romance film kind of girl, but this was definitely 101 minutes of my life well spent.

I loved this movie wasn't sure what to expect going in but its now one of my favortie go to romance movies. I love common popular romance movies but this one is very relateable and realisitc the main actress is incredible in the role she depicts a grown woman trying to find herself and a first romance when in her case is difficult because of society and her own personal limitations its super sweet and emotional in its own way i didnt find first love until adult hood either so i think that resonates with me but for a movie that might be considered boring with its basic storyline its anything but. Plus that it has faith as the big sis is also awsome.

Louisa Krause did a good job, though compared to other autistic characters I have seen, she was somewhat different. One thing I did notice is that when she pretended to be a character in one of the movies she liked, she seemed quite "normal". Also, I didn't realize there was anything wrong with her at first. I didn't bother to read the summary that came with my TV listings. I just knew it sounded cute, and it was. When the time came for her to show real problems, Krause did that well. However, in many ways she just seemed shy and awkward, as Jack described her. Some people can't easily make eye contact but that didn't seem to be a big deal for Jane. Jane was not an easy character to like at times, but she was adorable and intelligent and liked to have fun. The audience wants her to succeed. She can do more than people think she can, though the is going to have problems. It's nice if a romantic lead is pretty, and Jane could be attractive when she tried, but she is more of a case of a nice personality.

I have seen Elisa Dushku in other roles. She did a good job here, I believe, trying to be her sister's friend but sometimes having to be like a strict parent. But she looked amazing, which was a big reason to like this movie. Whether she did a good job with Shakespeare, I can't really say. Not being aware of what was taking place, I thought she was kind of flat at first, but then it was just a rehearsal. Don't expect me to like Shakespeare, though. It's more of an effort for me than anything else.

I really liked Jack and wanted him to succeed with Jane and in his career. He and Jane were good together in all their scenes. If he went out with lots of women and had certain expectations, I got the impression that he didn't want that any more and no one needed to be concerned about him.

The factory where Rob and Bianca lived was a nice looking building and I'm glad people care about preserving those buildings. Not everything about it was nice, but that's part of the charm. When someone goes to imdb to look up this movie, I think it's the stairwell that is shown where it says "play trailer". It's a shame Jane looks so unpleasant there, but so does that stairwell. Where Jack and Bianca went to smoke, the building showed its age and no effort was made to hide that.

I saw this movie cleaned up and I'm glad I did. I'm not saying it was family friendly, but one of the many times I didn't hear a word, it did start with F. Until that point I had decided maybe someone was being overly cautious. There's really no reason for such language here. I don't think kids should see it, but the cleaned up version I saw was fairly tame.

I think it's worthwhile.