Writer/director Lucca Vieira’s “The Midway Point” begins with a title card announcing “Around 75 million people have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). That is 19 percent of the world’s population, according to the CDC.”
We meet Jake (Sean Ryan Fox), a teen who struggles to connect with anyone at high school and only expresses his frustrations with his mother (Thora Birch). Every day at school is an endurance test for Jake, who tries but can’t make meaningful connections with his classmates.
To his surprise, Jake comes out of his shell when Alice (Catherine Daddario), the girl he crushes over from afar, finally shows an interest in him. The two form a strange bond (of all things, they share a love of bad movies, like “Manos: The Hands of Fate”).
When it turns into a romance, Jake tries to keep it a secret from his mother and everyone else.
Fox and Daddario are very good in the leads; they have a nice chemistry and bring unexpected layers to their roles. Julie Benz plays a school counselor, and the role is far too small for an actress this good.
Birch is excellent as always and Wes Studi is solid as Jake’s sympathetic teacher.
“The Midway Point” has lots of heart, but it’s awfully familiar and the third act runs into a wall of melodrama.
I would have been more impressed with the film had I not already seen “The Spectacular Now” (2013), “The Fault in Our Stars” (2014), Like Crazy” (2011), the films of John Hughes, all of those Nicholas Sparks movies and the ABC After School Specials I grew up on.
This is far from the first tortured teen romance we’ve seen before. The cast clearly cares about their characters but very little that happens here is a surprise.
Vieira, making his feature film debut, pads the running time by flashing back to scenes we just saw a minute ago. Also, the big moment of a first kiss is drowned out by an overly eager soundtrack.
Nevertheless, the film is well crafted, even as the director can’t inject the material with enough innovation to make it seem fresh.
The end credits include a special thanks to Jeff Fahey and other notable artists, leading me to think this was a labor of love for those involved. As an actor’s piece, particularly for Fox and Daddario, this should provide a showcase for them that leads to subsequent projects.
The ending, which I won’t describe, isn’t defeatist but surprisingly gives us an optimistic conclusion, a most refreshing touch. After all the seen-it-before teen drama, the last half is the least expected section and the most successful.
Too much of “The Midway Point” gave me Teen Movie Drama déjà vu but the final stretch, where the characters and the story go literally and figuratively into the unknown, was when it finally won me over.
Two and a half stars (out of four)