Adam (****)

Directed by: Max Mayer
Starring: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Galagher, Frankie Faison, Amy Irving
Seen: September 7th 2009

**** Out of ****

Adam (Dancy) is a 29 year old man suffering from Aspergers Syndrome, which is, in short, an Autism spectrum disorder, and people with it show significant difficulties in social interaction, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour and interest. The movie starts beautifully, establishing a few things forming the core of the story. In short edits we see the contents of Adam’s fridge – one type of food, and nothing else (restricted and repetitive patterns). We see the clinically clean apartment he lives in, and we see him standing next to an open grave holding a flag in his hand, looking slightly out of place in the suit, and also pretty unsure of what to do next just before Harlan (Faison), his only friend, guides him away. Next he’s in his apartment, he walks up to the fridge, takes a marker and scratches out two words – Dad’s Chores. And so a fantastic movie begins.

Beth (Byrne) moves into the building, and soon she is drawn into Adam’s world – he is not completely anti-social, he just has some issues in the social sphere. When she, in no subtle terms, tells Adam she will suffer up to her apartment with all her heavy bags, Adam does nothing, he does not get sarcasm or any form of double meaning at all. Adam is very interested in space, and he invites Beth into his apartment one evening having set up his living room as a small planetarium, and starts spitting out facts about space, something he does quite often through the run of the film, mistaking this for conversation, which Beth comes to understand and in some instances assist him with. Beth is immediately intrigued by Adam when he tells her of his Aspergers. She starts finding out about it, asking colleagues at her school, reading books, and she also realises a relationship with Adam is not a far-flung notion. The two start said relationship, and soon enough Adam becomes pretty dependant on Beth.

Little things and what happens around them make the movie special, like the giving of a gift, a hug, cleaning a window, lunch on a park bench, a midnight encounter in Central Park, and many more. Hugh Dancy never gives an indication that this he is acting, he becomes the character. The ever beautiful Rose Byrne is perfect as Beth Buchwald, the young teacher and children’s author who falls for an afflicted man, all while coping with family troubles along the way. The supporting cast also performs to tee, Frankie Faison pretty entertaining and stabilising as Adam’s only friend, Peter Gallagher gives Beth a good, but slightly skewed father, and Amy Irving does not get to do much apart from sharing a great truth – love is not all about getting, it gets better when you learn to give [paraphrased].

Adam is one of those below the radar movies that comes flying through theatres every now and then that everyone should see, but rarely does; it is a beautiful and true reflection of relationships in general, and I’ll definitely own this once it’s released on DVD. Go see this one…