Saturday, August 1, 2009

Adam (Saturday, August 1, 2009) (104)

This movie might have the dullest name of all the movies I've seen this year. It's fitting, though, as the film itself is super-duper boring and trite. Adam, the eponymous lead character, is a rather high-functioning man with Asperger syndrome who lives alone in his Upper West Side apartment. There he meets a young woman who is his upstairs neighbor. Somehow the two fall in love (I don't know - something about her needing a 'reliable man' and having daddy issues and him being turned on by her casual friendliness to him).

There's some silliness with the woman's father - played by Peter Gallagher - who is a bully that walks all over her mother - played by Amy Irving (ah, Amy Irving, mmmmm). Much of the time is spent with him being weird and 'Aspergery' (for laughs, of course) and her trying to re-train him to act more standard-like. This is boring for the most part. A few times the two get in fights because he doesn't always know how to behave in normal situations and she gets frustrated. But this is stupid because she should expect at least a few of these moments when she gets involved with him (it's not as if he's more normal sometimes and she can forget his situation - he's always a bit off-normal).

The acting is actually pretty good. Hugh Dancy is believable as Adam (although I always wonder if it's easier to play a character with a mental handicap rather than a 'normal person'); Rose Byrne is good as Beth; Gallagher is fine as a jerk; Amy Irving looks magnificent though her role is limited; Frankie Faison is funny as always as the old wise friend.

Mostly my problem is with the writing and directing with is silly and boring. I love to think about how sill the pitch was: 'The movie is Say Anything meets Rain Man. A woman with an Electra complex meets an guy with Aspergers and they fall madly in love. Will he be able to replace her daddy when he fills his shelves with cereal boxes? Will she ever be able to understand that he likes to be touched - but not too hard?!' Oy vey.

Stars: .5 of 4

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