39 Pounds of Love

The subject of Dani Menkin's documentary is Ami Ankilewitz, a Texas-born Israeli artist who creates 3D-animated films on his computer using a single finger (the rest of his body is immobile). After Ankilewitz was born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy, his pediatrician informed his mother that he would not live to the age of six, but as this 2005 film opens, Ankilewitz turned 34. While only weighing 39 pounds and requiring a microphone headset to amplify his voice, the wheelchair-bound artist is not given to self-pity. Sporting Harley Davidson tattoos, a large circle of friends, and a hedonist's vices (Jack Daniels and thick cigars), Ankilewitz lives as a bon vivant. Menkin follows Ankilewitz as he returns to the U.S. for a cross-country trip in an RV driven by his best friend. Ami has three goals: to reconcile with his estranged brother living in Dallas; to meet the doctor who predicted he wouldn't live past childhood; and to ride a Harley (he ends up settling for a ride in a sidecar). While the movie glosses over darker elements of Ankilewitz's story, including details of family troubles and his illness during the Grand Canyon section of the trip, his genuine wit and charm are contagious. When he views the baroque knocker on the apartment door of his pessimistic ex-pediatrician, he remarks drolly: “It looks like the House of Dracula.” A truly feel-good film, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)