Over the past few years, Fox Searchlight Pictures has managed to cement its place as a big player in small films. Since 2006, films produced by the company, which deals predominately in indie flicks, have earned 29 Academy Award nominations, including three Best Picture nods in as many years (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Juno” and “Little Miss Sunshine”). Although it has not received as much buzz as “(500) Days of Summer” — Fox Searchlight’s other indie release this year — “Adam” is a touching story about two strangers thanks to Hugh Dancy’s poignant performance as the title character.
Having spent the last eight years in TV, writer-director Max Mayer decided to switch over to the silver screen after being inspired by a man with Asperger syndrome, a disorder similar to autism, who described how he viewed the world in an interview on NPR. It was from this inspiration that Mayer created Adam.
Adam Raki (Dancy, “Confessions of a Shopaholic”) is a young man born with Asperger syndrome who has just lost his sole caretaker: his father. Attempting to get by on his own, Adam goes through the same motions every day, including eating the exact same dinner every night. This all changes, however, when Beth Buchwald (Rose Byrne, “Knowing”) moves into the apartment above him. It does not take long before chemistry — albeit a bit strange — begins to bring the two closer despite Adam’s disorder causing him significant difficulties with social interaction.
What makes this movie appealing is thetwist it adds to the love story clich?. There is deeper, more intellectual conflict than you would find in your usual, dumbed-down romantic comedy fare. Adam clearly wants to be with Beth but, does not know how to express his love, causing Beth to wonder whether he really loves her or if he just needs her as a caretaker. This constant internal conflict the two share keeps the romance between the characters interesting as audiences’ emotions continuously teeter-totter between heartwarming and heartrending.
What makes the chemistry between these two lovers so believable, though, is Dancy’s portrayal of Adam. This talented British actor gives such a spot-on performance that audiences will be second-guessing themselves as to whether Dancy actually suffers from Aspergers.
Although the film is not your typical rom-com — it actually plays more like a drama than anything — it still manages to sneak a little comedy in every now and then. While most of this comedy revolves around Adam’s disorder, Mayer manages to keep it tasteful by not directly poking fun of people suffering from Asperger syndrome. For instance, early on in Adam and Beth’s relationship, Beth brings Adam a box of chocolates only to have him respond, “I’m not Forrest Gump, you know.”
Mayer also greatly enhances the film by incorporating outer space as a major theme of the film. By having Adam totally infatuated with the night sky, Mayer not only creates some pivotal, captivating scenes involving Adam and Beth, but also integrates some superb literary metaphors like one involving “The Little Prince” by Frenchman Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry. Better yet, this addition won Mayer the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival for directing an outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme.
The film’s downfall, though, is its lack of development. Although the screenplay greatly benefits from Adam’s disorder and how Beth and he interact as a result, and the inclusion of outer space, the storyline as a whole could use some bulking up. To put it simply, not a whole lot happens in this movie beyond Adam and Beth’s relationship. This wouldn’t be such a problem, seeing as the couple’s blossoming romance is compelling and intriguing enough in itself, if there wasn’t so much wasted potential.
There are great side stories just waiting to be told not only with Beth’s parents (Peter Gallagher, TV’s “The O.C.” and Amy Irving, “Hide and Seek”) and their relationship with their daughter, but also with Harlan (Frankie Faison, “Meet the Browns”), an old Army buddy of Adam’s father. Because these plots are barely developed, so are the characters, resulting in the misuse of three gifted actors.
In the end, the film’s development pitfalls are what keep “Adam” from being an all-around brilliant movie. That said, the film is certainly one worth seeing, if not only for Dancy’s performance but for a chance to gain a better awareness of what love truly means through the eyes of someone who’s just a little bit different.
3 1/2 stars out of 5.
