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ADAM |
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Take a bunch of actors with no real
credible background, add a director with absolutely no big screen experience
and only limited television creds and what do you get? A delightful semi-romantic comedy
called "Adam". Fox Searchlight has a solid record
of hitching its cart to movie gems. They did it with "The Last King of
Scotland", " Juno", "Little Miss Sunshine" and 2008s "Slumdog Millionaire". They do
it once again with this charming piece about a man with a condition. Adam (Hugh Dancy) is a man who
suffers from Aspergers Syndrome - a form of autism. However unlike Dustin
Hoffman's "Rainman", Adam's condition leaves him fairly functional. Functional
enough that he is an engineer at a toy company; his father arranged a job we
learn early on. |
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However the film opens with him at a funeral, the funeral
of his father with whom he shared a condo in New York City. He is now on his
own save for the caring watching’s of his fathers old army buddy Harlan
(Frankie Faison). But Harlan is not his caretaker, just a good friend who
looks in on him, talks with him and helps him run errands. No Adam is fairly self sufficient
though he is very predictable. His diet consists of macaroni and cheese
dinners. He even lets his laundry run to the last shirt before realizing he
needs to wash it. And that's when he meets his new
neighbor Beth (Rose Byrne), in the pick-up hangout of the stars – the
buildings laundry room. Though Adam is sufficient enough to
design computer chips he lacks social skills, the common thread with autism.
He tells the truth and doesn’t understand lying. He speaks his mind and is puzzled when he doesn’t know
what other people are thinking. He definitely doesn’t know what’s on the mind
of Beth. But they become friends anyway. For Beth, Adam is a breathe of fresh
air after a bad relationship with a stock broker. A broker her father Marty
(Peter Gallagher) endorsed as a real catch. He dad is a successful accountant
and has provided her and her mother Rebecca (Amy Irving) with a great life. |
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But things aren't always what they
seem. As their relationship develops Adam
loses his job at the toy company because he doesn’t understand cost
efficiency. He'd rather build a chip that works rather than a chip that’s
cheap. So his boss cans him while quoting "5000 at $100; not 100 at $5000!" No Adam is stuck with this fabulous
condo and the mortgage that goes with it and not job. He knows he needs to
find a job but he also knows his social skills would prohibit him from
succeeding in an interview. Heck his best topic of discussion is astronomy,
which he knows back and forth. So Beth helps him and soon they fall
in love. A love that her dad protests vehemently. Naturally she ignores him
as she discovers Adams world. "Adam" is not as funny as "Forrest
Gump", though it does a comical shot at Gump. It is not as dramatic as
"Rainman". And I don't believe it's a movie with a cause. "Adam" is just a nice
film about two people who have no reason to be together, but every reason to
be together. It's another Fox Searchlight gem. --GEOFFREY BURTON
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