CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 7/31/09

An Underlying Condition

By peter clines

Adam

Max Mayer (also directed)

Adam (Hugh Dancy) is a man with Asperger's syndrome who is left flailing after the death of the father who'd always sheltered and cared for him. Beth (Rose Byrne) is the woman downstairs who finds Adam's often-unintentional blunt honesty refreshing and begins an awkward courtship. In all fairness, the characters in this script are fantastic, and Max Meyer (Better Living) offers some amazing insights into the world of someone who thinks the way Adam does. Alas, this also becomes the film's sticking point. Adam's straightforward nature, combined with the degree of "unawareness" his condition creates, often plays as childlike innocence. While Rose's affections are genuine, the movie still dips into an uncomfortable place every time she takes the lead in their relationship, as if we're watching a graduate student dating a grade schooler. It never goes so far as to shatter the premise of the story, but it's too big too ignore when it's on screen. The subplot of Beth's father (Peter Gallagher) gives an odd Say Anything feel to the second half of the story, and, as with that film, it gets a little too much screen time. Adam is a story of touching romance and a fascinating story of living with Asperger's, but these two gears never mesh quite right, and the story grinds a few too many times to be great.

Adam
Fox Searchlight
Rated PG-13; 95 min.

Peter Clines grew up in the Stephen King fallout zone of Maine and made his first writing sale at age 17 to a local newspaper. He currently lives somewhere in southern California, and can often be found ranting on his cleverly named blog, Writer on Writing. His first novel, Ex-Heroes, will be released in fall 2009.



Adam courtesy Fox Searchlight

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