Our friend Rebecca suggested this one and b4 insisted we watch it and I’m glad she did!. [Note: Our dear friend Rebecca died in a tragic accident two weeks after we saw this film. We miss her deeply. She and I spent many hours comparing films and we treasured her suggestions on this front as in so many other areas of life, mjs, 12/10/07]. Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver star in this touching yet never mawkish story of a man who has been alone for a long time and his unique connection to a high-functioning autistic woman. The role was written for him and the lead was originally named Alan. He plays a recently released murderer who picks up a young girl hitchhiking, Emily Hampshire. She is killed when his car is totaled by a truck, and Alex goes to tell the mother and stays to help her get through the funeral. The film is very good, never soppy. Rickman grows better with age and Weaver ranges from almost there to utterly gone. She is marvelous. All the acting is genuine. This is an honest and humane film about people facing difficult times. Support work from Carrie Ann Moss as Maggie the neighbor and James Allodi as Clyde the cop are really excellent, but the real show-stoppers are Rickman and Weaver. See this movie