Adam
In ways that are maddeningly frustrating, Max Mayer’s “Adam” seems to want to be both an off-beat independent romantic comedy as well as a standard Hollywood romance. There are moments that also devolve in treacly movie-of-the-week.
Thankfully, the main performances by Hugh Dancy- as Adam, who has Aspurger’s Syndrome- and Rose Byrne- from “Knowing” as Beth- bring choking wit and soul to this unusual pairing that digs deep, and ultimately wins us over.
Adam’s father has died, leaving him alone in the world only his work making toys and a family friend his lone connections to the world.
Enter Beth, whose father (the terrific Peter Gallagher) wants her to settle down with a well-off family friend. But from the first time Beth and Adam meets, shortly after she moves into his New York apartment complex, you can feel a genuine but tenuous rapport.
Aside from Beth’s father being brought up on criminal charges, there are few subplots to distract from the affecting and sometimes heartbreaking relationship between Adam and Beth. More than once, I couldn’t help but think of John Carney’s bittersweet “Once” as the film went on its’ way.
“Adam” lacks that film’s scrappy and sweet beauty, but Dancy and Byrne make their moments together memorable and moving, most especially when a late-night trip to Central Park brings a moment of perfect contentment that will live on in both when life separates them. It’s at moments like these when the film finds something truly special in a situation so peculiar. You do wish the film had more of them, however.
