Half of this drama is inspiring, and half of it is annoying.

Autism has its benefits and challenges. Not all us can talk, not all of us can be flexible, and not all of us can function as well as people without the disability can. But there are those who can speak, be flexible, and function with society. And by “us,” you know I have the disability, but I try not to succumb to whatever stereotype movies and TV make us appear to be, and I want people to acknowledge that we’re people, too.

And so comes another movie about autism called “The Unbreakable Boy,” which has kept getting delayed in its quest for a proper release date and finally finds one. This weekend. Now there are inspiring moments and i did shed some tears every now and then. But this autistic kid talks too much, which can be annoying, and the story has to have its formulas just to keep things on the righteous path. Even as an autistic film critic, I was quite cynical about this movie.

The main autistic kid Austin (Jacob Laval) also has osteogenesis imperfecta, which is OI for short and also known as brittle bone disease. He inherits that serious condition from his mother, and he struggles with the pain. But he does talk a lot and he does like to fool around a lot, which makes him optimistic about life more so than his parents. And he loves wearing his jester hat, even to school, unaware that there may be bullies willing to make him their targets. Unless he can see that they’re in pain, too.

His mother (Meghann Fahy from “The White Lotus”) has developed cynicism, and his father (Zachery Levi) has developed alcoholism. This is all due to the stress of raising an autistic child with a painful condition. Their comfort blankets regard her playing video games, and him having his imaginary friend Joe (Drew Powell) by his side. That’s right. He’s a grown man with an imaginary friend. Although in certain scenes, he looks like the kind of guy who would move in with this couple.

“The Unbreakable Boy” was directed by Jon Gunn, who made last’s year’s inspiring drama “Ordinary Angels.” His latest feature, which has been put on ice for the past three years, doesn’t exceed that film because of its cynicism. The parents, who aren’t legally married, have to have their arguments with the wife being more negative, and it tries to make that kind of noise just to get attention from the audience.

I’m sorry if I’m insulting the real kid, whom Austin is based off of, but I’m mixed about how this film portrays him. He does have his inspiring moments, and Laval does a good job playing him, but he ends up getting overshadowed by the overly dramatic scenes and how much he talks. I acknowledge that people on the spectrum have different ways of expressing themselves, and you know I sympathize those with the condition, considering that I have it. But the kid talks too much for me to fully praise him.

Last year, I praised William Fitzgerald’s performance as the title kid “Ezra,” and that film was an underrated masterpiece, because of how it depicts autism and the people around it. I really tried to get people to see it based on my positive review. I can’t praise every autistic person or a movie about a character on the spectrum, but I do appreciate how Laval makes better choices than how Maddie Ziegler humiliated the community in Sia’s “Music.”

“The Unbreakable Boy” has the potential to allow movie-goers to overcome their own cynicism on people on the spectrum, and I still have my heart warmed in various aspects of it. But a movie like “Ezra” knows the stakes a lot better than this film does. You can’t just have Levi or Fahy trying to sell the movie; you have to acknowledge the message this kid is trying to convey about himself.