'Ezra' offers laughter, heartache and family drama in father-son tale exploring neurodivergence
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- "Ezra" isn't your typical coming-of-age story: it's a touching father-son tale infused with laughter, heartache and a lot of family drama.
"I don't think they make many movies like this anymore. At least not many movies like these open in the movie theater anymore, like a true family movie in the truest sense. And anybody can relate to the idea of doing whatever it takes to get your child seen the way that they need to be seen," actor Bobby Cannavale said.
"Ezra" is inspired by writer Tony Spiridakis' own experience as a father of a child with autism. The Tony-Goldwyn-directed film stars Cannavale as a struggling comedian on the verge of imploding.
Robert De Niro plays his dad, his real life partner Rose Byrne plays his ex, and William Fitzgerald plays their neuro-diverse son.
When you see a movie is starring heavy hitters like De Niro, Cannavale, Byrne and Goldwyn, you'd be right to assume it's going to be good. But what you might not expect is for a newcomer, like Fitzgerald, to steal the show.
In the movie, Ezra's superpower is his honesty, and the same could be about Fitzgerald.
"There's this beautiful scene in the film where Ezra has this communion with a horse, and William said, 'I'm not going near that horse.' He was afraid the horse was going to sneeze on him," Goldwyn said.
Goldwyn said he got down on his knees and rubbed the horse's snout, to prove to Fitzgerald the horse was calm and that he was not going to sneeze.
The horse though had different plans.
"William's standing right there and the horse, of course, sneezes in my face and covers me in a bucket of slime. My face, my entire body was covered in slime," Goldwyn said.
As for how he knew that the horse would sneeze, Fitzgerald said it was his intuition.
"I just knew, I knew it was going to happen. I also don't trust being near barn animals for some reason," he said.
Fitzgerald said reminders of barn animals ultimately followed him on a recent trip to New York.
"I noticed that the lobby to 'The View' headquarters smells a bit like hay," he joked. "My mom is like, 'Maybe there's a stable here,' and I'm like, in New York City?"
All jokes aside, when the co-stars were asked what they loved most about the movie, Byrne said it was the bond between its main characters.
"I love the intergenerational story about the three men. It's really beautiful and it really comes home in a beautiful way," Byrne said.
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