Sweet, Subtle Adam a Beautifully Acted Love Story

Adam Raki (Hugh Dancy) suddenly lives alone. His father having recently passed away, the quiet but extremely intelligent young man invents computer chips for a small New York toy company, his aversion to human contact and affinity for seclusion an unfortunate byproduct of his being afflicted with Asperger’s Syndrome.

Rose Byrne and Hugh Dancy in Fox Searchlight's Adam

Enter Beth Buchwald (Rose Byrne), a vivacious and outgoing school teacher who has just moved into his apartment complex. The pair have nothing in common, probably shouldn’t even be friends, yet a mysterious connection exists between the two allowing her to get closer to Adam in ways few, other than his late father’s best friend Harlan (Frankie Faison), have ever been able to.

Soon this implausible pair is venturing forth into the world to experience life outside the walls of their respective apartments, both managing to show the other wondrous sights neither would have discovered without the other. But as their relationship blossoms into something blissfully romantic Adam’s disease lurks in the shadows as a silent obstacle, both uncertain if one’s inability to read and process the feelings emanating from the other is an impediment either will be able to overcome.

For a good portion of its running time, the new romantic drama Adam refuses to go in the directions I expected it to. Beautifully underplayed by its stars, surprisingly romantic and offering up insights into a high-functioning form of autism I new little to nothing about, writer and director Max Mayer’s theatrical debut (a veteran of television programs like “The West Wing” and “Alias,” as well as a plethora of Off-Broadway shows) just oozes quality. For a good hour I sat spellbound by its tale of star-crossed lovers braving a frightening new world for the both of them, eager to find out if their relationship was made of sturdy enough metal to withstand the complications standing in its way.

All to the well and good but unfortunately these good vibes frustratingly do not last. Roughly two-thirds or so the way in there is a shift in dramatic tone that made me kind of angry, the subtle dramatics of so much of it discarded for a series of cliché melodramatic emotional moments that just screamed of a heavy hand. The film starts to collapse into a maudlin state of over-familiarity I’ve seen far too many times before, and like bad soap opera I may have reached for the Kleenex but that doesn’t mean I felt good about doing it.

Pity, because by and large up until then I absolutely adored this movie. Mayer’s screenplay swims in highly authentic waters, every step of Adam and Beth’s relationship so mesmerizing only a self-righteous cynic who spends his lifetime hating humanity would be able to find fault with it. I just marveled at the way both of them inched towards those first embraces, the baby steps both surreal and simple I think just about anyone – mental illness or no – could relate to.

I also like how Mayer refused to let a subplot involving Beth’s financial whiz father Peter (Peter Gallagher) to not overwhelm the early portions of the narrative. Very easily thins could have gone off the rails, the juxtaposition of his seemingly innocuous criminal trial against his daughter’s relationship with Adam one that very easily could have stopped things cold. Yet for the most part this does not come to pass, the filmmaker delicately weaving one story into the other with a sublime deftness that’s altogether captivating.

So what’s the problem? Well, for one thing those big Only-In-A-Movie Moments you keep thinking are going to happen but somehow never come to pass actually start making an appearance as the film rolls towards its conclusion. The dramatics switch from being beautifully under the surface to suddenly slapping you right in the face, the gentle shadings allowing the actors so much breathing room for nuance and adaptation vanishing almost without a trace.

There are lots of little things during this third act stretch that irked me (not the least of which was an obnoxious off-screen reading of a three-line note tucked away in children’s book) but none more so than a snowy tête-à-tête between Adam, Beth and Peter outside the Buchwald home. Every word out of their mouths is an unfortunate forgone conclusion, sending the movie down a lonesome path of melodramatic cliché more Radio than Rain Man.

Still, with all that said Adam is exhibit A as to why I so often despise having to judge films on some sort of rating system. There is so much I liked here, so much I found priceless in both execution and delivery, that to dismiss this movie out of hand would be seriously poor judgment on my part. Byrne hasn’t had a part this juicy and suited to her talents since I Capture the Castle back in 2002, while I’m tempted to say the multitalented Darcy has never been better. Additionally, for the majority of the film’s running time Mayer and company had me bewitched, my curiosity to see what was going to happen next matched only by the size of the smile cemented upon my face. 

While it is true that this smile did fade away by the time the film came to its end, I’m not going to say it vanished altogether. Thinking back on Adam the bits and pieces I liked keep coming to mind long before the portions I found disappointing. But it is a seriously mixed bag, the most distressing portions coming at the most inopportune of times. It is not, however, a failure, and whether that fact makes the film worth of a recommendation is an interpretation I’m going to have to leave to you.

Film Rating: êê1/2  (out of 4) 

Additional Links:

• Interview with Hugh Dancy by Sara Michelle Fetters
• 2009 SIFF Blog by Sara Michelle Fetters
• Adam Theatrical Trailer