Performances, Writing and Direction Save "Adam" From Itself

ADAM
Rated PG-13 for thematic material, sexual content and language.
99 minutes
Fox Searchlight
*** ½ out of 5

Sundance is definitely known for bringing the cinematic world an independent voice. Fox Searchlight has also been largely known for buying up Sundance hits and managing to bring them to the public’s wider attention. I used to attend Sundance every year for a good number of years until prices became higher and higher that it just seemed unreasonable to pay as much as $15/ticket when a lot of the films will see a distribution at some point. Whether it be at a local multiplex or on home video most of the films made for Sundance will be seen soon enough.

Over the years Fox Searchlight has given us a mostly positive with its Sundance releases as well as some original productions along the way. Just in the last ten years they have released “The Wrestler,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Choke,” “The Darjeeling Limited,” “Juno,” “Sunshine,” “Waitress,” “The Savages,” “The Last King of Scotland,” “Once,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Thanks You For Smoking,” “Millons,” “Sideways,” “Club Dread,” “Garden State,” “Napoleon Dynamite,” “Thirteen,” “28 Days Later,” “Bend It Like Beckham,” “The Good Girl,” “Waking Life,” “Super Troopers,” and “Boys Don’t Cry.” Not a shabby track record at all, especially when you also factor in the release of one of this years absolute best offerings from any studio, “(500) Days of Summer.”

But they haven’t been completely kind to us either, same as most studios. Along with the films mentioned before they have also “treated” us to the following that were either only so-so or just not that great: “One Hour Photo,” “The Good Thief,” “The Banger Sisters,” “Garage Days,” “The Dreamers,” “Johnson Family Vacation,” “Melinda and Melinda,” “Trust the Man,” “Roll Bounce,” “Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil,” “The Hills Have Eyes,” “The History Boys,” “Joshua,” “I Think I Love My Wife,” “The Secret Life of Bees,” "Miss March," and “My Life in Ruins.” Their track record is pretty much the same as every other major studio but at least their good far outweigh the bad.

Adam (Hugh Dancy) has Asperger’s Syndrome and now lives alone in an apartment after the death of his father. Not soon after this a new tenant, Beth (Rose Byrne), moves into the building and strikes up quite an interest in her new neighbor after asking him for help with access to the building’s laundry room and Adam’s inexplicable ignorance in helping her with some obviously burdening groceries. The two begin to sort of see each other meaning just literally that. They bump into each other or drop by for visits. After Adam gives Beth a whirlwind guide to the galaxy in his front room she’s quite exasperated but seems to enjoy the company. She sets up a meeting unbeknownst to Adam between them and her parents and her father, Marty (Peter Gallagher) instantly decides that Adam is not meant for Beth. Beth, having just found out about her father’s exoneration in a legal case, goes against his wishes and continues to see Adam despite his mental situation. The two have their ups and downs as Beth assists Adam in finding a new job in order to pay his rent and not have to move, but when Adam is offered a job in California and her father is sentenced to prison she must come to terms with what is best for her and not everyone else for a change.

“Adam” definitely falls into the better Fox Searchlight films than the bad. It teeters so far along an edge of being brilliant and could easily have fallen prey of being far too mushy that the fact that the balancing act manages to almost reach the finish line is quite impressive. Writer/director Max Mayer has given us a brilliant script right up until the very last scene. Until that point not much else seems out of place (aside from the character of Beth being referenced as both Elizabeth and Bethany). If the final scene had given the audience more closure it could have succeeded brilliantly. Now all we’re left with is the cast's outstanding performances and some marvelous soundtrack choices to string together one of the years most oddball “romantic comedies.”