Samantha Elisofon and Brandon Polansky in Keep the Change (Kino Lorber)

 Keep the Change is the most original romcom in years. Though it follows the arc of such classics as Nora Ephron’s You’ve Got Mail (1998)—wealthy guy from out-of-town learns a life lesson to succeed at romance with a down-to-earth gal on Manhattan’s Upper West Side—debut writer/director Rachel Israel infuses this traditional format with more empathy and sweet sincerity than is usually found in this genre.

Developed over years for this particular cast of nonprofessional actors, Israel, influenced by her film school advisor Ramin Bahrani (Chop Shop), shaped a universal story with broad appeal from the unique abilities and challenges of young adults on the autism spectrum. She first met Brandon Polansky years ago, and he’s first on screen here.  David Cohen (Polansky) is a 30-year-old cool man on-the-town, who, with sunglasses on, sits behind his driver while checking responses to his profile on a dating website. After he asks to have the car pulled over so he can buy something, the driver reminds David, to his annoyance, “Your mother said to be sure I get you to your meeting.” (There’s later reference that his participation is court mandated).

“The meeting” is of a real group at the Marlene Meyerson Jewish Community Center of Manhattan called Connections. According to its website, it’s “a social and recreational community of individuals in their 20s with intellectual, developmental, and/or physical disabilities.” The actual staffers, Dorsey Massey and Heidi Landis, take on the roles of teachers, and the diversity of abilities and interests within the group are those of real-life participants who get their moments to shine, like obsessive music blogger Will (Will Deaver). He’s the DJ at the dance party in full swing when David reluctantly joins the group. But David wants nothing to do with these folks, until he spots the most friendly and enthusiastic participant, the ever-smiling 24-year-old Sarah Silverstein (Samantha Elisofon).

After a couple of more failed attempts to online dates, where David’s noisy social tics become uncontrollable, he returns to the group. But his awkward conversation with Sarah gets him a homework assignment: the two of them are to visit the Brooklyn Bridge and find common ground so they can begin talking to each other. He’s resistant at first, but she is endlessly insistent. By the end of the outing, he is actually having a good time, even as he’s surprised by her limitations under her gung-ho attitude; their jaunt has to end back at the JCC because she only knows how to take the bus from there to her grandmother’s small apartment.

David’s home is an extreme contrast, a McMansion overlooking Long Island Sound, where David’s mother, Carrie (Jessica Walter), and retired father, Lenny (Tibor Feldman), host elegant parties and spend half the year as snowbirds in Florida. (The only professional actors in the film, their roles are drawn as oblivious snobs who have not dealt with David’s issues or future.)  David mostly stays in his bedroom editing old family photos and home movies into an autobiographical film.

Over the summer, David gets happily drawn into Connection’s activities, including a play by Sammy (Nicky Gottlieb). But the other guys gossip how Sarah is quite the social butterfly. David has to cope with jealousy and Sarah with consistency in a relationship as they become closer and more intimate. So close, that David wants her to meet his family, including his famous TV and Broadway-starring actor/cousin, Matt (Jonathan Tchaikovsky). While these visits are typically disasters in any romcom, this awkward affair is much more touching and heartbreaking than usual. As a result, Sarah stops smiling, even when she returns to the group.

There are classic definitions that a chick flick is when only the guy has to change, while a date movie is when both main characters change. Here, both Sarah and David reveal vulnerabilities that they can better overcome together. After its world premiere at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Keep the Change deservedly won the Best U.S. Narrative Feature, Best New Narrative Director, and Special Mention from the Nora Ephron Prize jury on women-directed films. Back home at the JCC, this unique crowd-pleaser recently kicked off the ReelAbilities Film Festival. This charmer will also appeal to wide audiences far from Manhattan for a special date movie.