Why Neal is a portrait of Neal Hecker, a thirty-something man that seems to be very kind and intelligent person. Neal is also mentally unstable, and he has habits of using his mother's shed in the yard as a toilet - and packing up the urine in the bottles and feces into the plastic bags, and taking them up to unknown locations in his hometown. This is something that most of the reviews point out of this film (including this one, sorry about that), but there is so much more in Neal. He's a collage artist, singer-songwriter, caretaker of another real character - handicapped Bob aka Stoneman...

Chris Deleo takes his Hi 8-camera to Neal's home, to the before-mentioned shed and to Neal's friends and relatives. The viewers have an access to Neal's and every others feelings so close, that it almost hurts. But what's beautiful, is that Neal knows he's not like others and that's why you must like this person a lot.

Although Deleo doesn't really tell in this film, what are the backgrounds of  people around Neal, it all comes pretty clear in the end. Why Neal is edited in a way, that gets the viewer hooked. After that, the viewer wants to know the truth behind the hints that are given along the the film. Especially the stories of Neal's crush to almost mysterious Jennifer and 15-year old Alice rivets you on your seat.

The main story here focuses on Neal's decision to move away from his mother. It is not an easy thing to do, although Neal is capable to work, drive a car and do pretty much anything that stable person can. It is fascinating and delighting to watch and listen, how frankly and straight the people around Neal (and Neal himself) talk to each other.

Why Neal is an unvarnished portrait of extraordinary people - some of them are mentally unstable, some are handicapped and some are regular & average citizens. But everyone is on the same line here - there's no enemies and no-one's better than other. And this is why Why Neal is an important film and lecture of equality. Somehow, world seems again to be a better place to live.