Zig Zag (Sam Jones III) is an autistic kid from an abusive household. He also has a verbally abusive boss, Mr. Walters (Oliver Platt). It seems that all he would know is abuse if it weren't for his acting big brother, Dean Singer (John Leguizamo).

When I say autistic, Zig Zag is on the spectrum, but he's not like Rainman. He's more like a Dr. Seah Murphy from "The Good Doctor" except a worse portrayal of an autistic kid. Zig Zag was good at memorizing numbers and he got himself in a jam when he stole money from his boss after seeing him open his safe. The rest of the movie was Singer and his effort to return the money.

This movie brings a few questions to mind.

1. How does a fifteen-year-old autistic boy legally work?

2. Why is an autistic kid in regular classes with non-autistic kids

3. Since when does LAPD have time to spend investigating a theft for more than thirty minutes it takes to have the victim fill out a report (even if it was $9000).

4. Since when do autistic individuals violently scheme (Zig Zag walloped his boss over the head for know apparent reason)?

"Zig Zag" just failed to launch and it was largely due to the lack of believability. Sam Jones III did a little head bob, poked out his lip, and spoke like a ten-year-old and that was his version of autism. I'm far from an expert on autism, but I just didn't buy it.

"Zigzag" tells of a benchmark time in the life of the title character, a mentally "different" black 15 year old innercity boy (Jones). An ambiguous tale with an underdeveloped centerpiece which is hard to get your head around, this gritty film is fraught with character exaggerations so extreme as to make for poor credibility. Nonetheless, for those who can make the huge leap of faith required to buy into this drama, there is a touching story of the best and the worst of humanity in counterpoise with a somewhat poetic narrative. "Zigzag" is a misfire which seems to have a clear purpose with a flawed execution. C+

Zig Zag (Sam Jones III) is a fifteen years old autistic teenager, living with his abusive father Fletcher (Wesley Snipes),who frequently beats him. Fletcher charges him for a rent of US$ 200,00, otherwise he would be thrown out of his home. Although working washing dishes in a restaurant, whose owner Toad (Oliver Platt) humiliates him very often, Zig Zag does not have the money and becomes worried with the situation. Zig Zag sees Toad opening his safe, memorizes the combination and in the night he steals almost ten thousand dollars. When he comes back home, Fletcher takes all the money from him and uses it to repay a loan to the dangerous Cadillac Tom (Luke Goss). Singer (John Leguizamo) is the best friend of Zig Zag and when knows what he did, he decides to return the money to Toad's safe, otherwise Zig Zag would be sent to a reformatory. However, Singer is very sick, having a terminal cancer, and her uses the support of the prostitute Jenna (Natasha Lyonne) to accomplish his intent. This movie is almost good, but something does not work well in the story. The cast has a great performance, but the genre is too corny for a drama, too slow for an adventure and too dramatic for a comedy. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): `Conduta Ilegal' (`Illegal Behavior')