About Adam

This movie was good. I liked seeing Stuart play the provocative role. It fits him well. The sexy, sly, intriguing, & playful role. Very good move on his part although it was not a huge hit in the states. I heard about it on here and ran to rent it. The whole story is a bit crazy but fun. YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!! I really enjoyed and would suggest it to anyone.

"About Adam" is a cheerful pentangle, helped along by a charming young cast, unpredictable quirkiness and Irish blarney.

Kate Hudson, in what was her first film role, shows off her Mom's smile to good effect.

Frances O'Connor is atypically frenzied. And so on.

All inspired by a lovable, enigmatic rogue whose sensuality turns on at least three sisters and a brother.

The song choices are surprisingly conservative traditional pop, culminating effectively in Peggy Lee.

(originally written 6/15/2001)

In some ways this is an incredibly refreshing film. In it's acceptance that lust and promiscuity are normal facts of life and not something that lead to a lifetime of suffering and possibly eternal damnation, it's almost unique in Irish cinematic history. Seeing a film so free from the historical and religious baggage that shackles most Irish films can also be a bit disconcerting, like seeing one of the nuns that taught you in school wearing a mini-skirt and fishnet tights.

Set far from the traditional Irish mise-en-scene in Dublin's trendy Temple Bar area, it features Stuart Townsend as a benign Irish cousin to Jack Nicholson in _The Witches of Eastwick_, who plays on the desires of three beautiful sisters for his own ends. Far from being a scheming Casanova, he's a likeable character who does nothing more than tell a few tall tales to aid his seductive techniques, and who helps people come to terms with themselves rather than cosign them to a life of guilt by doing so.

This film is like Stembridges earlier film, Guiltrip, turned inside out. It's bright, urban-based, modern, and shows signs that Ireland is finally developing a mature attitude to Sexuality.

On the face of it, it seems a little much that a no doubt sexy guy will attract females like a magnet including three sisters, one of their brother's girlfriend - and the brother - but it could well happen I guess. That in essence is roughly the plot, so if that appeals you'll probably like the film - it's reasonably well cast, adequately acted, nicely filmed and moves along at a fast pace. But if that plotline sounds too superficial, you can't stand seeing an E-type jaguar painted pale blue and aren't overly excited by Dublin as a setting, then you'll probably find it a bit ho hum. The promise of lots of appealing sex scenes will also be disappointing - certainly there is some action in that department but filmed very prudishly. However, Irish films are a rarity so that may be enough in itself to tempt a viewing.

I did not even know the tag-line to the film About Adam (or All About Adam) but my first thought after I saw it was "He came, He saw, He conquered...them all." And it is almost identical with the film tag-line "He came. He saw. He conquered. One sister at a time." Gerard Stembridge's film belongs to the long suffered and rarely done well genre of romantic comedy or so called chick flick but this movie was a nice surprise. It has a twist to it, is amusing, enjoyable and funny, at least up until the very final. In the end, the writer/director seemed to have lost an interest of simply did not know what to do with his main character who could've been a lighter version or a younger brother to Pasolini's mysterious visitor in Theorem or, if asked Who are you, he could've answered, Just your average, horny little devil, not unlike Mr. Darryl van Horn. Yes, About Adam may not use any original ideas and it brings to mind immediately the movies as different as Theorem; Sliding Doors; He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not; the Spanish Oscar winner for the Best Foreign movie, Bell Époque, The Witches of Eastwick, and more than one Woody Allen's dramedies, Hannah and Her Sisters, particularly. The story of a charming mysterious man who makes every member of one family fall hard for him simply by being there and expressing the interest to each person's problems, troubles, and needs has been told many times but I personally was amused and smiled more than once while watching this little comedy and I found it if not a bright lost gem but a nice way to spend an hour and half following the adventures of a nice guy , every girl's dream come true who could make women happy because he knew exactly what each of them wanted, needed, longed for, lacked in her life, and dreamed about. I found especially funny always changing and adjusted for a particular listener the story of the powerful sexy mysterious collectible Jaguar, the perfect car for a sexy, mysterious, perfect man. Cinematically, the movie that takes place in Dublin is very pleasant, and I did not mind the repeating narrative that helped to look at the same scenes from very different perspectives and unexpected points of view. The young and talented actors and actresses including pre-Almost Famous very cute and singing Kate Hudson, Frances O'Connor and Charlotte Bradley as her older sisters, and Stuart Townsend as irresistible Adam all made their characters likable which is important for this type of film.